Pressure solution can occur under conditions ranging from diagenesis to at least the lower greenschist grade of metamorphism at temperatures of 20 to 400 degrees Celsius. Schlanger (1964) reported microstylolites in Miocene Alifan Limestone from Guam, which have been estimated to be buried no greater than 100 m. Lind (1993) reported sytlolite development commencing at about 450 m burial depth, but this probably represents a maximum value.

At low temperature and low pressure, i.e., up to 2 km depth, the kinetics of dissolution and precipitation are the limiting factors in the micro-mechanism of pressure solution because the dissolution is slow and the water film is thick enough to diffuse the solutes (Renard et al., 1997). Thus, temperature, which has a major affect on the kinetics of dissolution and precipitation, controls the rate of pressure solution at this range of depth.

On the contrary, at greater depth, the efficiency of pressure solution is not strongly temperature dependent. Under such conditions, temperature is high and the water film thickness is small; the diffusion becomes the limiting factor instead of the solid-fluid kinetics. Pressure solution develops over a large temperature range, 350 - 600 K, that corresponds to diagenetic to low metamorphic grade conditions. Substantial strain can develop even towards the lower end of this temperature range (Rutter, 1983).

The solubility of many carbonate minerals decreases logarithmically with increasing temperature. For example, the ion concentration product for calcite at 0 C and at 50 C is 10(-8.02) and 10(-8.63), respectively (Garrels and Christ, 1965). These values represent about a four-fold difference in calcite solubility caused by temperature alone.

In addition to an increase in solubility products with decreasing temperature, carbon dioxide is more soluble at lower temperatures, further favoring carbonate mineral dissolution in cooler environments. Carbon dioxide reacts with water to form carbonic acid, the concentration of which is the controlling factor for the solubility of carbonate in many natural environments.