Scholz et al. (2025): Natural ocean alkalinization through erosion of glacial till and weathering at the seafloor
Florian Scholz, Janine Börker, Christoph Vogt, Jens Hartmann and Klaus Wallmann, IN: Communications Earth & Environment, https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-025-03009-2
The ocean absorbs about 25% of anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions, with this uptake regulated by acid-neutralizing anions collectively termed alkalinity. Most seawater alkalinity originates from the weathering of aluminosilicate and carbonate minerals on land, whose dissolved products are transported to the ocean by rivers, a slow process that causes carbon dioxide removal to lag behind emissions. Here the authors present geochemical evidence showing that fine-grained glacial sediments mobilized by coastal erosion undergo rapid seafloor weathering.