Ultrasonic Observation of the Calcite-Aragonite Transition

Elastic-wave velocities were measured as a function of pressure by ultrasonic pulse Interferometry in Solenhofen and Manilus limestone specimens to pressures of 27 and 38 kb. Longitudinal velocities decrease sharply from 5.3 km/sec at a mean pressure of 4 kb to a minimum of 4.8 km/sec at 8 kb. Transverse velocities decrease from 3.1 to 2.9 km/sec. At the minimum bulk and rigidity moduli are 25 and 20 per cent below their 4-kb values. A density increase of 1.7 per cent is associated with this minimum. The observed effects are attributed to the calcite-aragonite transition, and they may be due to an inherent property of the material, a component of which undergoes a polymorphic transition, the low- and high-pressure phases coexisting over a considerable pressure range. This may be an additional mechanism to account for low-velocity zones in the earth?s interior.