Episode 112: Can You Use Rocks to Store Carbon Dioxide?

Meet the Expert: Katrin Steinthorsdottir, geologist

Katrin Steinthorsdottir, geologist

Katrin Steinthorsdottir (she/her) is a geologist from Iceland living in Vancouver, Canada. Originally her interest in rocks came from the smooth black pebbles she collected as a kid, and later on she studied the volcanoes in Iceland and Mexico that form these black rocks. Currently she is studying another rock type called peridotite that forms deep under the earth’s crust which can turn CO2 into minerals. She is doing a PhD at the University of British Columbia (UBC) and also working alongside with Carbfix – a company that stores CO2 in rocks underground.

HERE is an article the Katrin wrote about Protecting Our Climate by Turning Co2 into Stone

 

Katrin’s advice on how to look for rocks

“When walking around in a nearby park, countryside, or maybe forest, you can sometimes find an ‘outcrop’ – a piece of ground (or cliff) that shows the bare rock, so not the soil or loose gravel. If you do find an outcrop this means you have found the top most crust, that is the outermost layer of the earth! How does the rock in the outcrop, or any big rock you find, look like, smell like, feel like? What colour is it, is it all the same, or are there any lines or weird shapes? Can you scratch it with a fingernail? Maybe if you look close enough (you can use a magnifying glass if you have one) you can see tiny specs or blobs that are minerals!”    Now go outside and do some rock  hunting!

 

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Challenge

Go rock hunting! Try to find a basaltic rock. Here are some pictures of what you’re looking for:

 

basalt rock

basalt rocks

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Send us a picture or leave a comment below.We LOVE hearing from you!! If you liked this episode, leave a comment below OR share with us on our Twitter , Instagram or Facebook page.

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Climate Change book by Jennifer Swanson

Featured Book for this Episode!

Geoengineering Earth’s Climate: Resetting the Thermostat 
by Jennifer Swanson (Author)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Book List: 
Outdoor School: Rock, Fossil, and Shell Hunting: The Definitive Interactive Nature Guide 
by Jennifer Swanson (Author), John D. Dawson (Illustrator)

Our World Out of Balance: Understanding Climate Change and What We Can Do
by Andrea Minoglio (Author), Laura Fanelli (Illustrator)

What a Waste: Trash, Recycling, and Protecting our Planet by Jess French (Author)

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