The presence of impurity ions is known to significantly influence mineral surface morphology during crystal growth from aqueous solution, but knowledge on impurity ion–mineral interactions during dissolution under far-from-equilibrium conditions remains limited. Here we show that calcite (CaCO3) exhibits a rich array of dissolution features in acidic Pb-bearing solutions. During the initial stage, calcite exhibits nonclassical surface features characterized as micropyramids that developed spontaneously. Subsequent pseudomorphic growth of cerussite (PbCO3) was observed, where nucleation occurred entirely within a pore space created by dissolution at the calcite/substrate interface. Uneven growth rates yielded a cerussite shell made of lath- or dendritic-shaped crystals. The cerussite phase was separated from the calcite by pores of less than 200 nm under transmission X-ray microscopy, consistent with the interface-coupled dissolution–precipitation mechanism. These results show that impurity metal ions exer...