The exceptional ability of carbon to form sp 2 and sp 3 bonding states leads to a great structural and chemical diversity of carbon-bearing phases at non-ambient conditions. Here we use laser-heated diamond anvil cells combined with synchrotron x-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, and first-principles calculations to explore phase transitions in CaCO 3 at P > 40GPa. We find that post-aragonite CaCO 3 transforms to the previously predicted P2 1 /c-CaCO 3 with sp 3 -hybridized carbon at 105 GPa (~30 GPa higher than the theoretically predicted crossover pressure). The lowest enthalpy transition path to P2 1 /c-CaCO 3 includes reoccurring sp 2 -and sp 3 -CaCO 3 intermediate phases and transition states, as reveled by our variable-cell nudged elastic band simulation. Raman spectra of P2 1 /c-CaCO 3 show an intense band at 1025 cm -1 , which we assign to the symmetric C-O stretching vibration based on empirical and first principles calculations. This Raman band has a frequency that is ~20 % lower than the symmetric C-O stretching in sp 2 -CaCO 3 , due to the C-O bond length increase across the sp 2 -sp 3 transition, and can be used as a fingerprint of tetrahedrally-coordinated carbon in other carbonates.