Daval Lab

Research focus

ERC Consolidator Grant · 2020

Are microbes the ultimate drivers of subsurface weathering? Rates, actors, mechanisms and nanoscale imprints of the bioweathering of fresh and aged silicates

The ambition of this proposal is to provide the very first realistic assessment of the contribution of microbes to subsurface silicate weathering rates. The motivation is simple: ~70% of Earth’s bacteria and archaea live underground, and microbes have long been suspected to impact silicate weathering rates, which affect the Earth’s climate. However, the rates and mechanisms of silicate bioweathering essentially remain a terra incognita, particularly in basalt settings. Such environments are suggested to be a potential host for early life and represent prime targets for massive injections of CO2 to fight against global warming, whose success strongly relies on silicate reactivity. Having a…

From the public funding record at EU CORDIS. Describes the funded project, not the reviews below.