Carbon storage and immobilization in a large scale aquifer - Guarani
Aquifer System
Abstract
Giant aquifers are capable of storing significant amounts of carbon as a
result of immense water volumes, substantial dissolved inorganic carbon
(DIC) concentrations and its ubiquitous reactions with matrix, thus
contributing the global carbon storage and cycle. However,
concentrations of dissolved solutes vary significantly over a distance
in the Guarani Aquifer System (GAS) which causes difficulties in process
interpretation. To quantify the importance of controlling parameters, we
performed reactive transport modeling which combines both hydrological
and geochemical inputs. The paper presents a chemical evolution in a
two-dimensional aquifer configuration, global sensitivity analysis along
with estimates of the DIC flux through the system boundaries. We
observed that the DIC flux at recharge as well as plagioclase and
olivine hydrolysis rates play an overriding importance in controlling
the solute patterns including the DIC concentrations, while soil pH,
horizontal hydraulic conductivity, porosity, precipitation of secondary
minerals, but calcite, and Mg ratio in carbonates are of minor
significance. If released Ca undergoes ion exchange to Na, the storage
is delayed in time and space. In conclusion, the capacity of GAS in
receiving recharge CO is attributed to the hydrolysis along with
advective transport while the global sensitivity analysis informs how
the financial resources should be allocated to effectively reduce
interpretative uncertainty in large-scale groundwater systems.