Geertset al. (2025): The CDR potential of olivine-based enhanced rock weathering in marine systems: a case study for the coastal zone of France

Luna J.J. Geerts, Astrid Hylén and Filip J.R. Meysman IN: Environmental Research Letters, https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/addf60

Marine enhanced rock weathering (mERW) is proposed as a method to achieve ocean alkalinity enhancement, thus increasing the CO₂ storage capacity of seawater. Deposition of minerals in shallow waters results in enhanced weathering dissolution rates via the „benthic weathering engine“, thus inducing an additional alkalinity release from the seabed on top of the natural alkalinity efflux. However, the application potential of mERW as a carbon dioxide removal (CDR) technology remains uncertain. Here, the authors quantified the CDR potential via mERW through a spatially explicit model, using the coastal zone of France as a case study. They simulated the one-time addition of dunite (olivine-rich source rock) distinguishing between three sediment types: bedload, permeable, and cohesive seafloor environments.

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