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Asked by hxsan77 to Davie, Gemma, James P, James V, Nuala on 26 Jun 2012. This question was also asked by jasmine06.
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James Verdon answered on 26 Jun 2012:
When CO2 dissolves in water, if forms a weakly acidic solution called carbonic acid. Of the main rock types, limestone, which is calcium carbonate (CaCO3) is the most reactive. The limestones will be dissolved away over time. This is what causes a lot of the caves and karst scenery in limestone areas.
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James Pope answered on 26 Jun 2012:
Hi hxsan77,
James V has answered this one, but what I can add is the enjoyment you can get from testing a rock to see if it is limestone in the field by using some carbonic or hydrochloric acid and if it fizzes and foams it is a limestone!
It’s also why acid rain is damaging to some buildings and statues, because these are sometimes made of limestone!
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Nuala Carson answered on 26 Jun 2012:
Yeah James Verdon has given a good answer to this.
Although i would add that carbon dioxide reacts much more with water than any form of rock. The ocean is constantly taking up or giving out carbon dioxide with atmosphere depending on the state of the ocean. We know that at the moment it is taking up lots of carbon dioxide so helping offset global warming but this is causing the ocean to become more acidic. By changing the acidity of the ocean we have seen that some forms of life cant build the shells or skeletons properly, so we are pretty worried about this!
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