Journal of Geological Society of India (Online archive from Vol 1 to Vol 78)

Suresh Narayan Karkhanis ¹

Affiliations
1 Department of Geology, Imperial College of Science and Technology, London, SW7 2AZ, GB

Abstract

It has long been known that graphite can be formed by the carbonization of organic matter at temperatures greater than 2000°C. These experiments show that carbon from inorganic precursors-carbonate minerals-can form ordered layers at relatively low temperature of only 600°C at 1 Kb pressure. This relatively low temperature of graphitization might be due to other minerals acting as catalysts. The ordered layering of carbon at low temperature and pressure should have an important consideration in the study of ancient carbonaceous sediments.

Full Text