The Environment Division (EN) of the Chemical Institute of Canada (CIC) is collaborating with the Working Towards Inclusion, Diversity, and Equity (WIDE) Member Resource Group of the Canadian Society for Chemistry (CSC) to promote work that enhances the diversity of ideas and people in Canadian environmental research.
This month they are happy to feature the photo “Enhanced rock weathering” submitted by Professor Rafael M. Santos at the University of Guelph.
A microplot field site is prepared to study the long-term transport of sequestered carbon dioxide via enhanced rock weathering (ERW) into the soil and subsoil. The Canadian-mined mineral wollastonite (CaSiO3) is applied to the soil by broadcast spreading. The soil is then seeded with winter rye, and the topsoil is lightly raked with a grate to incorporate the amendments. ERW consists of silicate minerals dissolving into soil water, solid carbonates precipitating, and then re-dissolving and moving down to the subsoil. This is a climate change mitigation approach classified as a negative emissions technology. The inorganic carbon content of this microplot is to be monitored annually, at varying depths down to the water table. Pictured are graduate students Maria Aguirre, Hugo Fantucci, Stephen Vanderburgt, and Fatima Haque, and project collaborator Klaas Baan. The principal investigators are Prof. Rafael Santos and Prof. Emily (Yi Wai) Chiang from the University of Guelph.