Gypsum

About: Gypsum is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 6135 publications have been published within this topic receiving 65599 citations. The topic is also known as: gypsum mineral & calcium(II) sulfate dihydrate.

Use of Gypsum on Soils: A Review

Abstract: Gypsum is a relatively common mineral that is widely available in agricultural areas and has a number of specialized agronomic uses, principally as a Ca source on legumes and as a soil conditioner on sodic soils. Recent research has suggest that the utility of gypsum may extend to a greater range of soils and crops than previously acknowledged. The purpose of this review is to document both current practices and potential new uses of gypsum in agriculture, in order to establish the state of the art in current gypsum use, and to point out needed research in this important area.

New constraints on Precambrian ocean composition.

Abstract: The Precambrian record of carbonate and evaporite sedimentation is equivocal. In contrast to most previous interpretations, it is possible that Archean, Paleoproterozoic, and to a lesser extent, Meso to Neoproterozoic seawater favored surplus abiotic carbonate precipitation, as aragonite and (hi-Mg?) calcite, in comparison to younger times. Furthermore, gypsum/anhydrite may have been only rarely precipitated prior to halite precipitation during evaporation prior to about 1.8 Ga. Two effects may have contributed to these relationships. First, sulfate concentration of seawater may have been critically low prior to about 1.9 Ga so the product mCa++ x mSO4-- would not have produced gypsum before halite, as in the Mesoproterozoic to modern ocean. Second, the bicarbonate to calcium ratio was sufficiently high so that during progressive evaporation of seawater, calcium would have been exhausted before the gypsum field was reached. The pH of the Archean and Paleoproterozoic ocean need not have been significantly different from the modern value of 8.1, even at CO2 partial pressures of a tenth of an atmosphere. Higher CO2 partial pressures require somewhat lower pH values.

Crystallization and phase stability of CaSO4 and CaSO4- based salts

Abstract: Calcium sulfate occurs in nature in form of three different minerals distinguished by the degree of hydration: gypsum (CaSO4·2H2O), hemihydrate (CaSO4·0.5H2O) and anhydrite (CaSO4). On the one hand the conversion of these phases into each other takes place in nature and on the other hand it represents the basis of gypsum-based building materials. The present paper reviews available phase diagram and crystallization kinetics information on the formation of calcium sulfate phases, including CaSO4-based double salts and solid solutions. Uncertainties in the solubility diagram CaSO4–H2O due to slow crystallization kinetics particularly of anhydrite cause uncertainties in the stable branch of crystallization. Despite several attempts to fix the transition temperatures of gypsum–anhydrite and gypsum–hemihydrate by especially designed experiments or thermodynamic data analysis, they still vary within a range from 42–60°C and 80–110°C. Electrolyte solutions decrease the transition temperatures in dependence on water activity. Dry or wet dehydration of gypsum yields hemihydrates (α-, β-) with different thermal and re-hydration behaviour, the reason of which is still unclear. However, crystal morphology has a strong influence. Gypsum forms solid solutions by incorporating the ions HPO4 2−, HAsO4 2−, SeO4 2−, CrO4 2−, as well as ion combinations Na+(H2PO4)− and Ln3+(PO4)3−. The channel structure of calcium sulfate hemihydrate allows for more flexible ion substitutions. Its ion substituted phases and certain double salts of calcium sulfate seem to play an important role as intermediates in the conversion kinetics of gypsum into anhydrite or other anhydrous double salts in aqueous solutions. The same is true for the opposite process of anhydrite hydration to gypsum. Knowledge about stability ranges (temperature, composition) of double salts with alkaline and alkaline earth sulfates (esp. Na2SO4, K2SO4, MgSO4, SrSO4) under anhydrous and aqueous conditions is still very incomplete, despite some progress made for the systems Na2SO4–CaSO4 and K2SO4–CaSO4–H2O.