Rating Weathering Conditions Around the World to Understand Restricted Factors for Big Rock types

A group of four scientists at Pennsylvania State University analyzed the varying weather conditions in different regions of the world to gain a better understanding of the factors that limit the rate of weathering for different types of rocks.

Carbon sequestration

The researchers S. L. Brantley, Andrew Shaughnessy, Marina Lebedeva, and Victor Balashov published a paper in the journal Science where they discussed their study that involved comparing laboratory experiments with real-world tests to gain insight into the amount of carbon dioxide that can be removed from the atmosphere through rock weathering. Robert Hilton, with the University of Oxford, has released a Perspective piece in the same journal issue detailing the work done by the team on this new initiative.

Previous studies have shown that when rocks are subjected to natural weathering processes like heat, cold, wind, rain, and ice, they release minerals that eventually trap carbon from the atmosphere. Still, the quantity has been tough to measure. The scientists in this recent study conducted tests at numerous locations to determine the global capacity for carbon dioxide sequestration.

Carbonic acid is formed when carbon dioxide gas comes into contact with wet rock. In time, it results in the creation of soluble minerals and also bicarbonate, a type of carbon. These items undergo a slow process of traveling through rivers, streams, and groundwater before ultimately reaching the ocean, where their minerals and carbon are stored and secured. The researchers note that this process has been going on for millions of years, and it describes why the planet has not grown much hotter from all the carbon dioxide spewed into the environment by volcanoes.

Assessing weathering conditions around the world

To acquire a better estimate of how much carbon is generally sequestered by rock weathering, the scientists subjected several kinds of rocks to artificially induced climate conditions in the lab. The researchers collected soil samples from 45 different locations across the globe and studied their composition, comparing them to the products that had undergone weathering in the laboratory.

The scientists more clearly determined the factors that inform the quantity of carbon that is released or sequestered. They discovered, for example, that less carbon is launched from minerals in cooler areas, where mineral supplies are reduced and where there is little rainfall. More work is needed before they can make worldwide estimates. Still, the researchers note that initial calculations suggest that rock weathering sequestration of CO2 is insufficient to offset the amount of CO2 being released into the air by human activities.

Read the original article on PHYS.

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