Shock response and degassing reactions of calcite at planetary impact conditions

Abstract Calcite (CaCO3) as a planetary material is a source to the atmospheric carbon dioxide through degassing by high-velocity impact events. Revealing the behavior of calcite in the extreme pressure and temperature conditions is required to understand the impact-induced degassing phenomena. Here we report laboratory investigations of shock- compressed calcite beyond the impact velocity of 12 km/s (faster than escape velocity from the Earth). The present precise shock measurements elucidate the shape of the calcite Hugoniot curve continuously passing through the melting and metallization states up to a pressure of 1000 GPa (= 10-million atmospheres) or a corresponding impact velocity of 30 km/s, allowing us to predict the post-shock residual temperatures and the dominant carbon oxide species in the impact aftermath. These predictions suggest that CO emission is much more dominant than CO2 at the impact velocities of ∼10 km/s and above, affecting the planetary atmospheric chemistry, greenhouse processes, and environmental changes during planetary evolution.