Global silicate weathering flux overestimated because of sediment–water cation exchange

Rivers carry the dissolved and solid products of silicate mineral weathering, a process that removes ${\mathrm{C}\mathrm{O}}_2$ from the atmosphere and provides a key negative climate feedback over geological timescales. Here we show that, in some river systems, a reactive exchange pool on river suspended particulate matter, bonded weakly to mineral surfaces, increases the mobile cation flux by 50%. The chemistry of both river waters and the exchange pool demonstrates exchange equilibrium, confirmed by Sr isotopes. Global silicate weathering fluxes are calculated based on riverine dissolved sodium (Na⁺) from silicate minerals. The large exchange pool supplies Na⁺ of nonsilicate origin to the dissolved load, especially in catchments with widespread marine sediments, or where rocks have equilibrated with saline basement fluids. We quantify this by comparing the riverine sediment exchange pool and river water chemistry. In some basins, cation exchange could account for the majority of sodium in the river water, significantly reducing estimates of silicate weathering. At a global scale, we demonstrate that silicate weathering fluxes are overestimated by 12 to 28%. This overestimation is greatest in regions of high erosion and high sediment loads where the negative climate feedback has a maximum sensitivity to chemical weathering reactions. In the context of other recent findings that reduce the net ${\mathrm{C}\mathrm{O}}_2$ consumption through chemical weathering, the magnitude of the continental silicate weathering fluxes and its implications for solid Earth ${\mathrm{C}\mathrm{O}}_2$ degassing fluxes need to be further investigated. Significance Large rivers transport water and sediment to floodplains and oceans, supplying the nutrients that sustain life. They also transport carbon, removed from the atmosphere during mineral dissolution reactions, which is thought to provide a key negative climate feedback on long timescales. We demonstrate that the (million-year) carbon flux associated with mineral dissolution has been overestimated by up to 28% because of a reactive pool of elements transported with river-borne suspended sediment. This is most acute in regions of high erosion, where silicate weathering is thought to be most intense.