Talk:Dolomite

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I have made a few minor changes to the article on dolomite. Mainly tightening it up and making a few additions. My purpose was to broaden the initial paragraph to cover dolomite (rock) as well as the mineral. It is clear from what follows the initial paragraph that the article covers both the rock and mineral. It is my intention to later make a substantial revision to add considerable material covering the various processes of dolomitization.

I am somewhat uncomfortable with the term "Dolomite Problem" although it is widely used in introductory texts. The "problem" in the past was that there apparently were large volumes of ancient strata that was dolomitized and only rare occurrences of dolomite in Recent sediments. This really is no problem today. During the past 30 years dolomite has been found forming at the surface of the Earth, in the marine environment and in the subsurface all over the world. There are apparently a number of mechanisms by which dolomite forms. I intend to cover these later.

I am also uncomfortable with citing "gray literature" and "internet sources" for compiling an article of this kind. The source article by van Lith et al. (2000) is legitimate but it is only an abstract. I believe that there are more recent publications by this group that can be cited. I am very skeptical about using the self published on line article (book) by Deelman as a source. There likely are some very good reasons why this work has failed to survive peer review and is not published in the formal scientific literature. I would like to rewrite the section on the kinetics of dolomitization. Possibly, it would be best to be less technical here. Even well educated science students usually do not understand concepts like “breaking Ostwald’s rule”. Actually, what is described in that section of the text is “Ostwald’s step rule” so whoever initially wrote it did not understand it either. In any event, more later. Jay Gregg 17:22, 22 August 2005 (UTC)

• How about "Dolomite Question". "Problem" seems like it needs to be "fixed" but "questions" can be "answered" ... in many ways. This leaves the issue open to discovery of new deposits, new theories, and anything else that might shed some light in the future. --Emana 23:05, 25 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Dolomite

This should be a letter to the author (s)? of the dolomite text.

I would ask You to to correct the word sulubility and point out the reaction speed as main difference. Dolomite is completely soluble in HCl, no matter if concentrated or dilute, the same as calcite. The difference between both is only the reaction speed, which differs by a factor of 1000 or so. Dolomite is also completely suluble in vinegar, You just have to wait long enough, pulverize it fine enough and heat the acetic acid long enough.

Manfred Weigend, Geologist, from Muenchen, Germany

[edit] Slang Use

I think there should be some mention of the term dolomite as it is used in slang, so that searchers can make the connection between the term and popular culture. For more information, see: http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=dolomite http://www.twiztv.com/scripts/futurama/futurama502.htm

Put it on the disabig page - see link at the top. Vsmith 12:54, 4 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Use in fiction

I added information regarding the mineral's use on the TV series Futurama, but another editor quickly removed it as "trivia". What do others think? Should this sort of thing be included in this entry? Is no use of dolomite in fictional works to be included here, or only those deemed "trivial"? Alvis 04:38, 2 August 2007 (UTC)

A lying robot's claims about dolomite do not seem either encyclopedic nor as coming from a trusted source. I think not trusting Bender is appropriate for Futurama. Maybe he'll provide citations in the credits for the movies. (SEWilco 05:51, 2 August 2007 (UTC))

It's not that I TRUST a fictional character (how is that even possible?), but that the mineral is mentioned as a central point to the climax of the episode. I even wrote "claims to be made of" rather than IS made of, as that's all the citation supports. Alvis 04:55, 4 August 2007 (UTC)

Don't need the trivial drivel here - put it in the Futurama article or make a link on the disambig page if you feel it to be notable. Vsmith 12:54, 4 August 2007 (UTC)