In pursuit of this, we commit to the following.

Open and cooperative research

All of our research will be published in peer reviewed journals to be subject to scrutiny from outside experts. We welcome other researchers to collaborate with us to gain a deeper understanding of anoxic basins potential for CDR.

Prioritize large scale benefit

The collective benefit to society and the environment is the primary purpose of the research we’re conducting to develop and evaluate the potential for this specific climate remediation technology.

Involve the public

Public participation in permitting, to assessments of verifiability, and environmental impact reviews are required to maintain trust with the public and an effective remediation project. We commit to engaging with the public in our activities both on land and beneath the ocean.

What do we still need to learn?

Our interdisciplinary team conducts research to assess the effectiveness and environmental impacts of large-scale anoxic basin carbon storage for climate mitigation, relying on rigorous and transparent methods to guide our sequestration efforts.

Separated from the Ocean

No Multicellular life

Just as people need to air to breath, underwater multicellular organisms like crustaceans and fish rely on dissolved oxygen in the water to breath. Because the anoxic basins have no oxygen, they’re a dead zone for multicellular organisms.

Minimal Circulation with Other Waters

Anoxic basins are formed when underwater geography prevents currents from mixing new, oxygenated water into the basin. The water contained in these basins is often stagnant for thousands of years creating the right conditions for preservation of plant matter.

Naturally Occurring

The anoxic basins we’re investigating for carbon sequestration are naturally occurring deep see formations. We are only interested in natural basins because each has remained anoxic and prevented decomposition for over 1,000+ year time scales. Please note - these are complete different from the surface water “anoxic zones” that make the news via fertilizer run off and other human contamination.

Frequently Asked Questions

How Anoxic Basins Form

Permanent Anoxic Basins form when there is a strong layering of the water column created in a cup like formation in the ocean floor. The layering is caused by density differences due to salt concentration or temperature.. Once the stratification occurs, circulation with the rest of the ocean is minimized, and micro-organisms consume the oxygen in the water. In most anoxic basins, the water is extremely stagnant and can have mixing times of many thousand years.

A ‘Non’ Ecosystem

It’s very strange to think of a region as having a ‘non-ecosystem’, but aside from single cell organisms, the Anoxic basins have no living animals. There is no ecosystem in terms of plants, animals, and multicellular life, in these regions which is very different from almost all other areas on Earth. It is critical to understand while the anoxic basin may sit “adjacent” to a large body of oxygenated water with a rich ecosystem, the basin is effectively separate. The lack of life in these basins offers one of the least impactful ways to sequester carbon and reduce climate change.

Safety

Safety is the key goal at every step of Carboniferous’s process. It’s essential that we achieve safety and protection in every aspect of what we do.

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Science

Global atmospheric CO2 concentrations are on the rise. Explore the impact of plants on atmospheric CO2 levels and how Carboniferous is leveraging its science.

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