ISO2CARE: Silicate weathering as CO2 sink

The project ISO2CARE investigates how silicate minerals dissolve and new secondary minerals form at the Earths surface. This is essential for tracking how carbon moves through the environment over long timescales. The studied mineral reactions help to understand and regulate atmospheric and oceanic carbon dioxide (CO2) levels and sinks, which are strongly influenced by changes in global climate. Silicate mineral dissolution releases elements into the aquatic environment and consumes CO2, while new minerals can trap these compounds and may release carbon again. This regulates how efficiently CO2 is removed from the environment. The exact rates, complex pathways, and detailed mechanisms of these reactions are still not well understood. Silicon (Si) isotopes offer a sophisticated way to identify, trace and quantify the above mineral dissolution and formation processes. Si isotopes are discriminated between solid and dissolved species, and thus can reveal the hidden kinetics and dynamics of mineral reactions in soils, water bodies, and ecosystems - specially in relation to their role in the global carbon cycle. ISO2CARE combines laboratory experiments, isotope analytic approaches, and advanced geochemical modelling to better constrain the mineral dissolution and formation reactions and to identify and adapt respective most effective conditions. By simulating a wide range of natural environments (alpine, soils, marine sediments), the project will identify key parameters that ultimately influence carbon capture in nature. By improving our understanding how the interaction between silicate and water regulates the Earth`s CO2 cycle, the results can be used to develop efficient carbon sequestration technologies for Earth`s systems.