Habitability and resources: evolution of Earth’s silicate weathering system. The Earth's weathering system is the primary stabiliser of climate, inspiring geoengineering efforts to increase carbon dio

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Habitability and resources: evolution of Earth’s silicate weathering system. The Earth's weathering system is the primary stabiliser of climate, inspiring geoengineering efforts to increase carbon dioxide (CO2) removal. A poorly known competing process, known as reverse weathering (RW), releases CO2 during marine authigenic clay formation. This potentially critical component of the carbon cycle remains largely unquantified. This research aims to employ new geochemical and geological tools to reveal, for the first time, how and why the extent of RW has changed over the past 1600 Ma. Expected outcomes will include improved constraints on i) the consequences of RW for CO2 removal via artificially enhanced weathering, and ii) the role that RW reactions play in the formation of marine critical mineral deposits.. Scheme: ARC Future Fellowships. Field: 3799 - Other Earth Sciences. Lead: Dr Stefan Loehr