Submarine BASalt Weathering and regulation of the global CARBon cycle over Earth history

Ziel

The primary objective of this proposal is to determine the role of submarine basalt weathering in the global carbon cycle. Over Earth history, our climate and surface temperature have remained stable, despite a 30% increased solar energy flux, a changing atmospheric composition, growth of continents, evolution of life, and shifting ocean chemistry. This climate stability requires a self-regulating thermostat that keeps our surface from getting too hot or too cold. This thermostat has long been thought to be related to terrestrial (on-land) silicate mineral weathering that leads to precipitation of carbon as carbonate minerals in the ocean. Basalt is an igneous rock that, despite not being abundant in terrestrial environments, plays an outsized role in the terrestrial silicate weathering flux. In contrast, basalt covers the ocean floor, where it is altered by seawater, leading to carbon mineral precipitation in the crust, but the role that this submarine basalt weathering plays in the global carbon cycle remains enigmatic.

BASCARB will fill this critical knowledge gap. I will build a team leveraging my expertise in isotope geochemistry and ocean chemistry evolution to address this fundamental aspect of how Earth’s climate is regulated. Experiments with basalt using novel isotope doping methods will quantify the role of temperature and ocean chemistry in carbonation of the oceanic crust. Measurements of natural samples will reconstruct how submarine basalt weathering has changed over time. Reactive Transport Modelling will determine how weathering reactions progress and how permeability evolves with changing boundary conditions. Earth system modelling using both forward and inverse models will allow us to understand how these processes have evolved over critical intervals of Earth history. BASCARB will answer these fundamental questions to quantify the role that submarine basalt weathering plays in regulation of the global carbon cycle over Earth history.

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