© Kristinn Ingvarsson

About

My name is Sigurður Reynir Gíslason, and I am a research professor at the University of Iceland's Institute of Earth Sciences. I received my PhD in geochemistry from the Johns Hopkins University 1985, under the supervision of Hans P. Eugster. My research group has focused on field and laboratory experiments related to mineral storage of CO2 in basaltic rocks as well as the chemical and physical erosion rates of basaltic terrains and their role in the global carbon cycle. We have also contributed to the understanding of the environmental impact of volcanic eruptions.

I was the president of the European Association of Geochemistry, in 2019-2020 and the co-founder and co-director of the CarbFix-project 2006-2020, focusing on carbon capture and subsurface mineral storage. I have been a Visiting Professor at the CNRS in Toulouse France 1994, 1998 and 2006, at the Peter Cook Centre for CCS Research, Melbourne University, Australia 2015, and at the KAUST University, Saudi Arabia 2022-2024.

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In 2012 I published a book in Icelandic on the global carbon cycle  and another one in English with Eric Oelkers in 2023 entitled Carbon Capture and Storage: From Global Cycles to Global Solutions. Over my carrier I have published over 150 scientific articles with my collaborator in peer-reviewed international journals that had been cited more than 16,000 in April 2024. These papers can be found here and on Google Scholar.

Professional Accomplishments

My main scientific contributions are 1) measuring the chemical and physical erosion rates of basaltic terrains and their role in the global carbon cycle, 2) quantifying the carbon storage potential of basaltic rocks, 3) measurement of the dissolution rates and dissolution mechanisms of volcanic glasses and minerals as a function of glass composition, aqueous solution composition and temperature and 4) assessing the environmental pressure from volcanic eruptions.

 

I am a Geochemistry Fellow of the Geochemical Society and the European Association of Geochemistry, and a Fellow of the International Association of Geochemistry. A recipient of the Patterson Award of the Geochemical Society in 2018. The President of Iceland invested me with the Order of the Falcon in January 2020. The Rector of the University of Iceland awarded me the Sigfússon Innovation Award in 2021, and I was a Falling Walls 2021 Winner in Physical Sciences in Belin 2021. In March 2024 I received the title "Eldhugi Kópavogs 2024" and a month later I was elected as an honorary member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences for my work in the field of geosciences. 

The CarbFix project is the 2020 co-recipient of the International Keeling Curve Award and the European Geothermal Energy Council´s Ruggero Bertani European Geothermal Innovation Award. 

7 key publications

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• Oelkers E.H. and Gislason S.R. (2023). Carbon Capture and Storage: From Global Cycles to Global Solutions. Geochemical Perspectives 12, 179-349, doi: 10.7185/geochempersp.12.2 .
   

• Matter JM, M Stute, SÓ Snæbjörnsdóttir, EH Oelkers, SR Gislason, E Aradottir, B. Sigfusson,
  I Gunnarsson, H. Sigurdardottir, E. Gunnlaugsson, G Axelsson, HA Alfredsson, D Wolff-Boenisch, K Mesfin, DFR Taya, J Hall, K Dideriksen, WS Broecker (2016). Rapid carbon mineralization for permanent and safe disposal of anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions.  Science, 352 (6291), 1312-1314.
   

• Gíslason S.R., G. Stefánsdóttir, M.A. Pfeffer, S. Barsotti, Th. Jóhannsson, I. Galeczka, E. Bali,
  O. Sigmarsson, A. Stefánsson, N.S. Keller, Á. Sigurdsson, B. Bergsson, B. Galle, V.C. Jacobo, S. Arellano, A. Aiupp, E.B. Jónasdóttir, E.S. Eiríksdóttir, S. Jakobsson, G.H. Guðfinnsson, S.A. Halldórsson, H. Gunnarsson, B. Haddadi, I. Jónsdóttir, Th. Thordarson, M. Riishuus, Th. Högnadóttir, T. Dürig, G.B.M. Pedersen, Á. Höskuldsson, M.T. Gudmundsson (2015).Environmental pressure from the 2014–15 eruption of Bárðarbunga volcano, Iceland. Geochemical Perspectives Letters (2015) 1, 84-93.
   

• Gislason SR and Oelkers EH (2014).  Carbon Storage in Basalt. Science 344, 373-374.
   

• Gislason, S.R.,T. Hassenkam, S. Nedel, N. Bovet, E. S. Eiriksdottir, H. A. Alfredsson, C. P. Hem, Z. I. Balogh, K. Dideriksen, N. Oskarsson, B. Sigfusson, G. Larsen, and S. L. S. Stipp (2011).  Characterization of Eyjafjallajökull volcanic ash particles and a protocol for rapid risk assessment. PNAS 108, 7307-7312.
   

• Gislason S.R., Oelkers E.H., Eiriksdottir E.S., Kardjilov M.I., Gisladottir G., Sigfusson B., Snorrason A., Elefsen S.O., Hardardottir J., Torssander P.,  Oskarsson N. (2009). Direct evidence of the feedback between climate and weathering. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 277, 213–222.
   

• Gislason, S. R. and Oelkers, H. E. (2003). Mechanism, rates and consequences of basaltic glass dissolution: II. An experimental study of the dissolution rates of basaltic glass as a function of pH and temperature. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 67, 3817-3832.

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Phone: +(354) 525 4497
Email: sigrg (at)hi.is

Address: Institute of Earth Sciences
University of Iceland

The Natural Science Building Askja,
Office 222, Sturlugata 7 IS-102 
Reykjavík, Iceland

 

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