Cunningham et al. (2025): Carbon dioxide removal during dissolution of granular basalt: A mass balance test of enhanced rock weathering at the hillslope scale

Charles J. Cunningham, Andrew Guertin, Marine Gelin, Louis A. Derry, Hannes H. Bauser, Minseok Kim, Jennifer L. Druhan, Scott Saleska, Peter A. Troch and Jon Chorover, IN: Earth and Planetary Science Letters, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2025.119662

Enhanced rock weathering (ERW) is proposed as a carbon dioxide removal (CDR) strategy that sequesters carbon through the carbonic acid-promoted dissolution of ground silicate rocks. Studies have explored the efficacy of ERW through geochemical models and bench-scale reactors, but field-scale experimentation is limited. A year-long, replicated study was conducted at the Landscape Evolution Observatory (LEO) at Biosphere 2 to quantify basaltic CDR at the hillslope scale. LEO comprises three mesoscale surfaces (each 330 m²) with 1 m depth of granular basalt. The authors subjected these structures to three 30 d irrigation events followed by progressively lengthened dry periods.

LINK