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The weathering of minerals plays a fundamental role in both the natural and built environment. Without mineral weathering rocks wouldn’t turn into soil and nutrients wouldn’t be released to plants. Mineral weathering is responsible for acid mine drainage and the release of potential contaminants from ore minerals. Mineral weathering can neutralise the effects of acid rain and leads to the decay of monuments and buildings.
More recently attention has turned to the potential for enhanced mineral weathering to lock up carbon as a carbon sequestration technology.
I am currently working with Professor David Beerling and the Leverhulme Centre for Climate Change Mitigation at the University of Sheffield, supervising two students.
Amy Lewis is characterising basalts to determine their potential for use as soil
amendments that will result in enhanced mineral weathering and carbon sequestration.PhD title:Enhancing the soil carbon sink: Towards characterising and quantifying new stabilisation methods
Co-supervisors: Professor David Beerling (main supervisor, University of Sheffield), Dr Binoy Sarkar (University of Lancaster), Dr Simon Kemp (British Geological Survey)
Funder: NERC Industrial CASE with the British Geological Survey
Dates: 2018-
Mike Kelland is carrying out greenhouse scale experiments quantifying the sequestration of carbon due to
enhanced mineral weathering of basalts.PhD title: How to cool the planet and save coral reefs by 2100: Experimental investigations of enhanced weathering as a geoengineering CO2 removal strategy
Co-supervisors: Professors David Beerling (main supervisor), Jonathon Leake (both University of Sheffield) and Steve Banwart (University of Leeds)
Funder: NERC
Dates: 2015-
Dr Sam Parry carried out a series of detailed studies to determine the impact that coatings of amorphous oxyhydroxides and organic material have on mineral dissolution. He also investigated the relative dissolution rates of different mineral size fractions in the soil.
PhD title: Turning rock into soil.
Co-supervisors: Dr Simon Kemp (British Geological Survey), Dr Eric Oelkers (University of Toulouse)
Funder: NERC - NE/F016735/1
Dates: 2007-11
Dr Dan Carpenter investigated the role of earthworms form different ecological niches in the breakdown of primary silicate minerals and the development of soils.
PhD title: Influence of earthworms on the physical and chemical weathering of soil minerals.
Co-supervisors: Dr Paul Eggleton, Natural History Museum, Dr Caroline Kirk, University of Loughborough
Funder: NERC CASE award with Natural History Museum - NER/S/A/2004/12417
Dates: 2005-8
Between 2004 and 2007 Dr David Brown and
Dr Caroline Smith both worked on a large NERC project "How do silicates weathering in nature?" (NERC, NER/A/S/2003/00346) led by Professor Martin Lee in which we used high resolution transmission electron microscopy to investigate the surfaces of minerals and how they reacted. As well as carrying out laboratory experiments we collected samples from the Glen Feshie chronosequence. Here's a picture of Martin and Caroline hard at work.
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