
Maria-Elena VorrathHamburg University | UHH · Institute for Geology
Maria-Elena Vorrath
Dr. rer. nat.
Removing CO2 with PyMiCCS, ROCKCHAR, Superchar and www.carbon-drawdown.de
About
38
Publications
10,385
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185
Citations
Introduction
I am working in the working group of Jens Hartmann in two projects. In RETAKE (www.cdrmare.de/retake) I study ocean alkalinization via reactor-based enhanced weathering of different materials. In PyMiCCS (www.cdrterra.de/consortia/pymiccs) I study carbon dioxide removal via mineral-doped biochar and enhanced weathering of basalt in agricultural soils.
Further, I volunteer in Project Drawdown (www.carbon-drawdown.de).
Additional affiliations
August 2021 - July 2022
Position
- PostDoc
Description
- I investigate and quantify olivine dissolution rates in high-energetic coastal environments. Further, I assist in olivine dissolution experiments in terrestrial agricultural soils to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere on large time scales. The assessment of carbon dioxide removal, beneftis and risks, application and monitoring are part of my work. This work is intergrated in the Carbon Drawdown Initiative https://www.carbon-drawdown.de/ and part of RETAKE at the Alfred Wegener Institute.
November 2020 - July 2021
Position
- PostDoc Position
Description
- I investigate marine trace metal cycles in the Tropical Wouth West Pacific that are released from shallow hydrothermal vents. My lab is Laboratoire des sciences de l'environnement marin, LEMAR. LEMAR: https://www-iuem.univ-brest.fr/lemar/ Funded by DAAD Germany: https://www.daad.de/en/
Education
February 2017 - September 2020
October 2014 - January 2017
October 2011 - September 2014
Publications
Publications (38)
Carbon dioxide removal (CDR) is teamwork: The combination of Pyrogenic carbon and enhanced Mineral weathering for Carbon Capture and Storage (= PyMiCCS) is suggested to deliver the combined benefits of both CDR methods. As a soil amendment, biochar and carbonating minerals may increase both the supply and retention of nutrients, the water holding c...
To achieve the Paris climate target, deep emissions reductions have to be complemented with carbon dioxide removal (CDR). However, a portfolio of CDR options is necessary to reduce risks and potential negative side effects. Despite a large theoretical potential, ocean-based CDR such as ocean alkalinity enhancement (OAE) has been omitted in climate...
Marine carbon dioxide removal (mCDR) and geological carbon storage in the marine environment (mCS) promise to contribute to the mitigation of global climate change in combination with drastic emission reductions. However, the implementable potential of mCDR and mCS depends, apart from technology readiness, also on site-specific conditions.
In this...
The Southern Ocean plays a crucial role in the global carbon budget. Modeling studies propose that the atmospheric CO 2 plateau during the Antarctic Cold Reversal (ACR; 14,700 to 12,700 calibrated years before present (cal yr BP)) is related to increased marine productivity. However, proxy evidence relating environmental conditions as well as prima...
As remnants of living organisms, alkenones and isoprenoid glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraether lipids (isoGDGTs) are widely used biomarkers for determining ocean water temperatures from the past. The organisms that these proxy carriers stem from are influenced by a number of environmental parameters, such as water depth, nutrient availability, ligh...
The reconstruction of past sea-ice distribution in the Southern Ocean is crucial for an improved understanding of ice–ocean–atmosphere feedbacks and the evaluation of Earth system and Antarctic ice sheet models. The Antarctic Peninsula (AP) has been experiencing a warming since the start of regular monitoring of the atmospheric temperature in the 1...
In the Western Tropical South Pacific (WTSP) Ocean, a hotspot of dinitrogen fixation has been identified. The survival of diazotrophs depends, among others, on the availability of dissolved iron (DFe) largely originating, as recently revealed, from shallow hydrothermal sources located along the Tonga-Kermadec arc that fertilize the Lau Basin with t...
Alkenones and Glycerol Dialkyl Glycerol Tetraether lipids (GDGT) as remnants of living organisms are widely used biomarkers for determining past oceans’ water temperatures. The organisms these proxy carriers stem from, are influenced by a number of environmental parameters, such as water depth, nutrient availability, light conditions or seasonality...
Übersicht über das Forschungsvorhaben PyMiCCS, Pyrogener Kohlenstoff und Mineralverwitterung für beschleunigtes Pflazenwachstum und Kohlenstoffentnahme und Speicherung, präsentiert auf dem Stakeholder Workshop von CDRterra (www.cdrterra.de)
Antarctic sea ice plays a critical role in the Earth system, influencing energy, heat and freshwater fluxes, air–sea gas exchange, ice shelf dynamics, ocean circulation, nutrient cycling, marine productivity and global carbon cycling. However, accurate simulation of recent sea-ice changes remains challenging and, therefore, projecting future sea-ic...
In the Western Tropical South Pacific, a hotspot of dinitrogen‐fixing organisms has been identified. The survival of these species depends on the availability of dissolved iron (DFe); however, the source of this DFe is still unclear. DFe was measured along a transect from 175°E to 166°W near 19–21°S. The distribution of DFe showed high spatial vari...
Enhanced weathering of olivine-rich basalt rocks for carbon dioxide removal is also studied in the light of olivine reactors. Olivine reactors for mineral carbonation demand high energy and are an expensive technology (e.g. for high pressure and temperature), calling for large investments and a reliable electricity grid. This makes such devices les...
Antarctic sea ice plays a critical role in the Earth system, influencing energy, heat, and freshwater fluxes, air-sea gas exchange, ice shelf dynamics, ocean circulation, nutrient cycling, marine productivity, and global carbon cycling. However, accurate simulation of recent sea-ice changes remains challenging, and therefore projecting future sea-i...
The importance of Antarctic sea ice and Southern Ocean warming has come into the focus of polar research during the last couple of decades. Especially around West Antarctica, where warm water masses approach the continent and where sea ice has declined, the distribution and evolution of sea ice play a critical role in the stability of nearby ice sh...
Distribution of bioactive, particulate trace metals (pTMs) from shallow hydrothermal vents (SHVs) are still poorly investigated. Exchange processes with the dissolved phase and the subsequent impact on TM marine biogeochemical cycling remain unclear. Here, we document the abundance and distribution of pTMs around SHVs investigated during the TONGA...
Spot on: here is your science. Science slams, in analogy to poetry slams and similar to the famelab format (Zarkadakis, 2010), are short and entertaining presentations in bars, music clubs or other cultural locations that are often presented by early career scientists. The format provides simple access to broad audiences from several cultural and e...
The importance of Southern Ocean sea ice has come into the focus of polar research in the last couple of decades. Especially in West Antarctica, where sea ice has declined, its distribution and evolution play a critical role for the stability of nearby ice shelves. Organic geochemical analyses of marine surface sediments from the West Antarctic con...
In the last decades, changing climate conditions have had a severe impact on sea ice at the western Antarctic Peninsula (WAP), an area rapidly transforming under global warming. To study the development of spring sea ice and environmental conditions in the pre-satellite era we investigated three short marine sediment cores for their biomarker inven...
In context of rapid environmental change, the investigation of vulnerable parts of the
global climate system is the focus of recent research. The assessment of global
interactions between a changing climate and Antarctic sea ice, especially at the rapidly
warming Western Antarctic Peninsula (WAP), aims to improve climate and ice sheet
modelling for...
In context of rapid environmental change, the investigation of vulnerable parts of the global climate system is the focus of recent research. The assessment of global interactions between a changing climate and Antarctic sea ice, especially at the rapidly warming Western Antarctic Peninsula (WAP), aims to improve climate and ice sheet modelling for...
This is an example of a research proposal to apply for a postdoctal felloship at the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD). This proposal was reviewed positive in June 2020 and allowed me to spend 6 months at a research institute abroad from Germany. I really recommend this postdoctoral fellowship programme because it is ideal as a kick-starter p...
In the last decades, changing climate conditions have had a severe impact on sea ice at the Western Antarctic Peninsula (WAP), an area rapidly transforming under global warming. To study the development of spring sea ice and environmental conditions in the pre-satellite era we investigated three short marine sediment cores for their biomarker inven...
This is our presentation at the EGU 2020 (condensed to the highlights of the study)
Abstract: Recent changes and variability in climate conditions leave a significant footprint on the distribution and properties of sea ice, as it is sensitive to environmental variations. We investigate the rapidly transforming region of the Western Antarctic Penin...
This is my Science Slam from the German Chamionship, 21st November 2019. It explains my research on organic biomarkers in a comprehensive and entertaining way within a little detective story.
For private use only.
Sea ice proxies are used to reconstruct the climate and environmental history in both polar regions. In the Southern Ocean, the biomarker IPSO25 ‒a highly branched isoprenoid (HBI) diene‒ is produced by sea ice diatoms (Belt et al., 2016). We evaluated the abundance and distribution of IPSO25 in recent ocean surface sediments through comparisons wi...
Organic geochemical and micropaleontological analyses of surface sediments collected in the southern Drake Passage and the Bransfield Strait, Western Antarctic Peninsula, enable a proxy-based reconstruction of recent sea ice conditions in this climate-sensitive area. We study the distribution of the sea ice biomarker IPSO25, and biomarkers of open...
The Antarctic Circumpolar Current is the world's largest current system connecting all major ocean basins of the global ocean. Its flow, driven by strong westerly winds, is constricted to its narrowest extent in the Drake Passage, located between South America and the Antarctic Peninsula. Due to the remoteness of the area, harsh weather conditions...
Sea ice proxies are important tools to reconstruct the climate and environmental history in polar regions. The novel sea ice proxy for the Southern Ocean is the biomarker IPSO25 (Ice Proxy Southern Ocean with 25 carbon atoms), a highly branched isoprenoid (HBI) diene produced by sea ice diatoms. With this poster we present the first approach of a s...
The Helmholtz Young Investigator Group PALICE uses specific biomarker lipids to reconstruct Antarctic ocean conditions. Major focus is on the identification of past shifts in sea ice cover and ocean temperature. For an assessment of ice-ocean-atmosphere interactions and their potential impact on the Antarctic Ice Sheet (AIS), climate models accompa...
Marine particle flux is the key mechanism of vertical transport of organic carbon from
the ocean’s surface into the deep sea. Global warming changes the physical drivers that
control marine primary production. This study examines the relationship between
physical drivers and marine production at the outer boundary of the Benguela Upwelling
System (...
Cruise M103 NAMUFIL (Namibian Upwelling Filament Study) onboard RV METEOR was dedicated to the GENUS (Geochemistry and Ecology of the Namibian Upwelling System) project (Phase II) and represented the sixth field campaign within this program since 2008. The scientific work focused on the Namibia Benguela region between the Orange River (28.6°S) in t...
As a part of the GENUS project, the effect of the Namibian continental slope on vertical
particle flux and the biological pump is examined with a sediment trap study. Located at a
latitude of 23° S in the Benguela Upwelling system samples were collected at a depth of
1518 m from January till December 2013 and analyzed on bulk components and amino a...
Questions
Question (1)
Hello everybody,
I am working with a Gust Chamber that simulates shear stress above the ocean floor.
I have a sediment sample (grain size and density know) and an analysis at which shear stress suspension occurs. Now, I like to use another sediment sample with the same grain size distrubtion but a 11% higher density and I wonder if I can somehow calculate the shear stress where suspension would occur.
I looked up some literature but could not find any formulars regarding this relationship.
Thank you in advance for your responses, Elena :)