The role of hydrology on enhanced weathering for carbon sequestration I. Modeling rock-dissolution reactions coupled to plant, soil moisture, and carbon dynamics

Abstract Enhanced Weathering (EW) resulting from soil amendment with highly reactive silicate minerals is regarded as one of the most effective techniques for carbon sequestration. While in laboratory conditions silicate minerals dissolution rates are well characterized, in field conditions the rate of the dissolution reaction is more difficult to predict, not least because it interacts with soil, plant, and hydrologic processes. Here we present a dynamic mass balance model connecting biogeochemical and ecohydrological dynamics to shed light on these intertwined processes involved in EW. We focus on the silicate mineral olivine, for its faster laboratory dissolution rate, and pay particular attention to understanding the role of plants and hydrological fluctuations and their propagation into soil biogeochemical processes (including cation exchange) and EW dynamics. A companion paper (Cipolla et al., 2020) presents specific applications with the main purpose of understanding the carbon sequestration potential under different climate scenarios.