These scientists are drilling in Oman’s al-Hajar mountain range, in search of a solution to climate change. The geologists have been looking to reduce greenhouse gases by pulling carbon out of the atmosphere.
Carbon dioxide, CO2, is the primary greenhouse gas driving climate change. CO2 levels have risen since the Industrial Revolution and are not slowing down. Scientists estimate that the planet will be 6°C hotter by 2100.
“They’ve taken up a billion tons of carbon dioxide,” said Peter Kelemen, a geochemist and Oman drilling project lead. “This mountain to our east is entirely composed of this magnesium carbonate plus quartz rock and there’s about a billion tons of CO2 in this mountain.”
Kelemen formed the Oman Drilling Project in the belief that natural rock formations can capture carbon with no hazardous waste. Kelemen’s team is taking grey rock core samples of Earth’s mantle.
