Speaker
Description
There is increasing recognition that emission reductions alone are unlikely to achieve global climate targets. This has prompted research into removing atmospheric CO₂, with estimates suggesting that hundreds of gigatons must be removed by the end of the century to remain below 2°C warming.
Marine Enhanced silicate weathering (ESW) has been identified as a potential efficient Marine Carbon Dioxide Removal approach, seeking to accelerate the natural cycle which constrains atmospheric carbon dioxide conditions on geological timescales.
Here we use a coupled diagenetic model which is capable of resolving both the organic matter degradation chain and related secondary redox processes, as well as
mineral dissolution and reverse weathering dynamics, to quantitatively assess the efficiency of marine ESW in enhancing the benthic alkalinity flux.
We run a large sensitivity model ensemble over the full range of plausible coastal sediment conditions (bottom water pH, sedimentation rate, organic carbon concentration and organic matter reactivity) for 1) coastal sediments without silicate input, 2) coastal sediment with natural silicate input, and 3) coastal sediments with input of easily dissolvable silicates, and quantify benthic alkalinity production/consumption and alkalinity flux. Results indicate that although enhanced silicate weathering produces a large amount of alkalinity in coastal sediments, much of this excess alkalinity is quickly consumed by carbonate precipitation and reverse weathering, so only a small increase in alkalinity flux is observed. The highest increase in alkalinity flux was observed in environments with high input flux of organic matter.
| If your abstract is not accepted for an oral presentation, would you be interested in presenting it as a poster instead? | Yes |
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| If accepted by the Scientific Board, I agree to have my presentation/poster and abstract published on the Belgian Climate Centre websites and social media. | Yes |
