A visual "thinking model" for rock weathering in soils: The "Cartion Park" Model

[Dirk Paessler]

Hi,

for people interested in using enhanced weathering on croplands for carbon dioxide removal: We have come up with a "story telling" approach for what is happening in the soil after one adds basalt on top. 

Why do different ERW measurement approaches seem (?) to measure different amounts of CDR?

There is a discrepancy between measurements of the basalt dissolution on the top of the soil (these can be in the order of 10-60% dissolution per year) and the amount of cations or alkalinity measured in the leachate waters (1-5% per year in the beginning, more after 2-5 years).

This is a problem for MRV (monitoring, reporting and verification) of ERW as a means of CDR. Since we believe that both measurements are actually correct we need to understand what happens in between the two. Where are the remains of the dissolved rock?

We still need to understand rock weathering on soils better! With Project Carbdown we have been working on this since 2020. Our goal is to find and improve ways to properly measure the effects of enhanced weathering on croplands. Which - turns out - is really hard to do.

During our discussions with the scientists of #ProjectCarbdown the following visual model has developed which helps us to talk about the complex interactions in the soil. Let me introduce our model by telling a simple story describing what happens in the soil when we add basalt.

Continue reading on our blog:

https://www.carbon-drawdown.de/blog/2022-12-7-the-cartion-park-model-for-erw-on-croplands

Dirk

Carbon Drawdown Initiative Carbdown GmbH

www.carbon-drawdown.de - Wilhelmshavener Str. 64, D-90766 Fürth
Registration: Amtsgericht Fürth HRB 17909 - VAT-ID DE328445765

Management/Geschäftsführer: Dirk Paessler, Ralf Steffens