THE EFFECT OF UV-RADIATION ON CALCIUM-CARBONATE SCALE FORMATION

A strong retardation was observed on the crystallization of calcite by shortwave UV radiation. The apparent order of the crystal growth of calcite was found to be n = 2 ± 0.2 for the seeded growth experiments and n = 4 ± 0.5 for the spontaneous precipitation experiments. The mechanism was not influenced by the presence of the UV radiation, which may possibly affect the dehydration step of the growth units or the migration step of the dehydrated growth units to the active growth sites. © 1993 Academic Press, Inc.