Shock compression of aragonite and implications for the equation of state of carbonates

Hugoniot equation of state and release adiabat results are presented for c cut crystals of aragonite, the high‐pressure polymorph of calcite, shocked to pressures of up to 40 GPa. A Hugoniot elastic limit is observed at 2.5±0.8 GPa and is similar to that of calcite, which, depending on orientation, ranges from 1.5 to 2.5 GPa. A phase transition, possibly displacive, occurs between 5.5 and 7.6 GPa. Above shock pressures of ∼10 GPa, the aragonite and calcite Hugoniots are nearly coincident, suggesting transformation of both polymorphs to the same phase. Model calculations, attempting to characterize the high pressure CaCO 3 phase are presented. Aragonite release adiabats centered at pressures between 9 and 14 GPa indicate that states with apparent zero‐pressure densities from 2.9 to 3.2 g/cm 3 are achieved upon decompression from progressively greater shock pressures. Observed unloading paths from shock pressures above 17 GPa are significantly and consistently shallower (in a density‐pressure plane) than those from lower pressures, and zero‐pressure densities up to 20% below that of the initial aragonite density are achieved upon unloading; these features suggest that vaporization is occurring upon unloading. According to theoretical shock temperature and entropy calculations, however, the minimum shock pressure for vaporization upon release for aragonite is 55 GPa (and 33 GPa for calcite), significantly higher than the observed value.