In this sub-project, possible scenarios for deployment of alkalinity-enhancing minerals in different target areas of the Baltic Sea shall be analyzed in close collaboration with the project partners. The basis is an existing ecosystem model, which in a first step shall be calibrated towards an optimal representation of the carbonate system parameters in the target areas. This requires a detailed empirical analysis of these parameters and their variability. Existing knowledge from historical records and present-day, continuous measurements of surface water pCO2 shall be complemented by targeted measurement campaigns, in order to describe the status quo as accurately as possible, which allows its close representation in the model. The model analyses then aim at anwering four scientific questions: (1) How do potential target areas differ in terms of their hydrodynamic conditions? (2) On which time scales can an influence on atmospheric CO2 be expected? (3) Which side effects can be expected onto the phosphate cycle, which is especially critical for the Baltic Sea ecosystem? (4) Via which pathways could these side effects lead to further indirect effects on the carbon cycle, possibly modifying the effect of the measures onto the marine CO2 sequestration and in this way complicating an attribution of the purposely generated effect?
In addition, public outreach and data management activities shall be coordinated across different projects in the research mission “Marine Carbon Sinks in Decarbonization Pathways”.