{ "vercy": "1.0-draft", "publication": { "status": "research-draft", "adjudicationStatus": "unreviewed", "publishableCanonical": false, "generatedAt": "2026-09-12T08:22:55Z", "providers": [ "Codex" ], "breadth": "recalled by Codex without web access - no source was read", "missingProviders": [], "pass": 2, "cost": { "grok": { "seconds": 23.8, "error": "Reading additional input from stdin...\nOpenAI Codex v0.153.4\n--------\nworkdir: R:\\02_PROJECTS\\02_Meta_Models_Platforms\\Ver.cy\\current\\thing-registry-backlog\nmodel: gpt-6-astra\nprovider: openai\napproval: never\nsandbox: read-only\nreasoning effort: none\nreasoning summaries: none\nsession id: 01a094b5-1352-7bf2-8f5c-74dba23e880b\n--------\nuser\nDescribe what is already known about one registered thing. Answer as JSON only, no prose around it.\n\nThing: carbonate-silicate cycle\nSense to describe: (none recorded)\nDomain code: ACT.PRC\nAlso known as: (none)\n\n\nContext for this batch of 1001 things:\n# Batch ", "usd": 0.0, "recall": true }, "codex": { "seconds": 85.5, "error": "Reading additional input from stdin...\nOpenAI Codex v0.153.4\n--------\nworkdir: R:\\02_PROJECTS\\02_Meta_Models_Platforms\\Ver.cy\\current\\thing-registry-backlog\nmodel: gpt-6-astra\nprovider: openai\napproval: never\nsandbox: read-only\nreasoning effort: none\nreasoning summaries: none\nsession id: 01a094b5-1342-7c63-a9be-71e6437d5bbb\n--------\nuser\nYou are drafting a Vercy meta-model for one registered thing. Answer as JSON only, no prose around it.\n\nThing: carbonate-silicate cycle\nRegistry id: vr.tr.carbonate-silicate-cycle\nPlane / domain: ACT / ACT.PRC\nRegistry definition: (none recorded)\nNames folded " } }, "enrichment": { "pass": 3, "engine": "claude", "producedAt": "2026-10-06T12:00:00Z", "ingestedAt": "2026-10-06T08:15:31+00:00", "fields": [ "agent_conduct", "ethics", "owners" ] }, "gate": { "passed": true, "version": "1.0", "at": "2026-10-07T10:10:28+00:00", "evidence": [ "completeness 1.00", "sense: Wikidata description", "2 live sources", "review by codex: pass" ] } }, "metaModel": { "id": "THING-Q209890", "registryId": "vr.tr.carbonate-silicate-cycle", "name": "carbonate–silicate cycle", "version": "0.1.0-research.1", "entryKind": "thing", "family": "Thing Registry", "domain": [ "ACT.PRC" ], "status": "research-draft" }, "canonicalUrl": "https://ver.cy/models/thing/q209890/", "model": { "registry_id": "vr.tr.carbonate-silicate-cycle", "name": "carbonate–silicate cycle", "purpose": "Enable an agent to recognise carbonate-silicate cycling, assess its carbon balance and climate feedback, and identify which observations or interventions could change that assessment.", "definition": "The carbonate-silicate cycle is the long-term biogeochemical cycling of carbon among the atmosphere, oceans and solid Earth through silicate weathering, carbonate formation and burial, and metamorphic and volcanic release of carbon dioxide.", "scope_statement": "This model owns vr.tr.carbonate-silicate-cycle in ACT / ACT.PRC: the coupled geological process linking silicate alteration, dissolved carbon and alkalinity transport, carbonate formation and burial, and geological CO2 return, with explicit spatial boundaries and assessment timescales.", "in_scope": [ "Continental and seafloor silicate weathering and their contributions to carbon and alkalinity budgets", "Transport and transformation of weathering products between soils, rivers, groundwater and oceans", "Carbonate precipitation, dissolution, burial and subsequent geological processing", "Metamorphic and magmatic CO2 return associated with geological carbon cycling", "Weathering-climate feedback, carbon-budget closure and departures from steady state", "Attribution of observed changes to weathering, burial, degassing or external forcing" ], "out_of_scope": [ "The complete carbon cycle, including detailed photosynthesis, respiration and organic carbon burial", "The complete silicon cycle, including biological silica production and recycling", "General mineral classification and rock identification independent of cycle participation", "Plate tectonics and mantle convection except as controls on material supply and carbon return", "Detailed ecosystem dynamics except their effects on weathering and carbon exchange", "Engineering, certification and commercial accounting for enhanced-weathering projects" ], "distinguishing_features": [ "An instance connects silicate alteration to carbon and alkalinity transfers and downstream carbonate fate; isolated mineral dissolution represents only a component.", "It tracks carbon through surface reservoirs and geological storage or return, rather than identifying the cycle solely with atmospheric-oceanic CO2 exchange.", "It distinguishes carbonic-acid weathering of silicates from carbonate dissolution and from weathering driven by other acids before assigning net CO2 uptake.", "It requires a carbon budget across a stated interval; instantaneous CO2 consumption is insufficient evidence of durable removal.", "It evaluates whether weathering responds to climate strongly enough to counter a perturbation, rather than treating any weathering flux as proof of a stabilising feedback." ], "characteristics": [ { "name": "System boundary and assessment interval", "kind": "category", "unit_or_values": "Named geographic or planetary domain, included reservoirs, and start/end ages or elapsed years", "why_it_matters": "Determines whether transfers count as internal recycling, carbon removal or carbon return." }, { "name": "Reservoir carbon inventory", "kind": "measurement", "unit_or_values": "mol C or Pg C per named reservoir at a stated time", "why_it_matters": "Allows accumulation and depletion to be distinguished from balanced circulation." }, { "name": "Weathering substrate and acid source", "kind": "category", "unit_or_values": "Silicate/carbonate mineral assemblages; carbonic, sulfuric, other or mixed acidity", "why_it_matters": "Constrains reaction stoichiometry and whether weathering produces net CO2 uptake." }, { "name": "Silicate-weathering flux", "kind": "measurement", "unit_or_values": "mol of specified element per year; separately derived mol CO2 per year with accounting convention", "why_it_matters": "Prevents mineral dissolution, cation export and net carbon removal from being treated as interchangeable." }, { "name": "Alkalinity export", "kind": "measurement", "unit_or_values": "mol charge equivalents per year across a named boundary", "why_it_matters": "Links weathering to downstream carbonate chemistry while exposing losses or additional sources." }, { "name": "Net carbonate burial", "kind": "measurement", "unit_or_values": "mol C per year after dissolution within the defined sediment boundary", "why_it_matters": "Measures transfer into geological storage rather than gross carbonate production." }, { "name": "Geological CO2 return", "kind": "measurement", "unit_or_values": "mol C per year, partitioned by volcanic, metamorphic and other included pathways", "why_it_matters": "Constrains the return flux that competes with geological carbon storage." }, { "name": "Weathering limitation", "kind": "state", "unit_or_values": "Reaction-limited, mineral-supply-limited, transport/thermodynamically limited, mixed or unresolved", "why_it_matters": "Determines how weathering can respond to warming, runoff or exposure of fresh rock." }, { "name": "Climate-weathering response", "kind": "relation", "unit_or_values": "Specified dependence on temperature, CO2, runoff and reactive mineral supply, with uncertainty", "why_it_matters": "Makes feedback strength conditional on a measurable or modelled response." }, { "name": "Carbon-budget residual", "kind": "measurement", "unit_or_values": "mol C per year; inputs minus outputs minus inventory change, with uncertainty", "why_it_matters": "Identifies missing pathways, inconsistent boundaries or incompatible estimates." } ], "affordances": [ "Trace a proposed weathering-to-burial pathway and identify missing links or observations.", "Calculate a boundary-specific carbon and alkalinity budget with explicit reaction assumptions.", "Classify weathering regimes and evaluate their response to changes in climate or mineral supply.", "Compare alternative explanations for geological CO2, carbonate or weathering records.", "Assess how a weathering perturbation could affect downstream storage while keeping project-level verification in its neighbouring model." ], "agent_conduct": { "may": [ "Explain the carbonate-silicate cycle and its timescales from scientific sources.", "Distinguish it from short-term carbon cycle processes in climate discussions." ], "must_not": [ "Use the cycle to argue that natural processes will undo human-caused warming in human timescales.", "Overstate the readiness of enhanced weathering schemes as climate fixes.", "Misrepresent scientific consensus or cite studies that do not exist." ], "requires_human": [ "Recommending large-scale weathering or carbon removal projects." ] }, "ethics": { "considerations": [ "Climate misinformation delays action whose costs fall on future generations.", "Geoengineering claims can distract from cutting emissions." ], "affected_parties": [ "Future generations", "Communities exposed to climate change", "Researchers" ] }, "owners": { "steward": "Nobody: a natural process held in common.", "master_systems": [] }, "what_it_is_for": [ "The carbonate-silicate cycle is studied in geology, geochemistry and climate science to explain carbon exchange over geological timescales.", "It helps researchers interpret relationships among rock weathering, ocean chemistry, tectonic activity and atmospheric carbon dioxide.", "It also provides context for evaluating weathering-based carbon removal and the long-term habitability of planets." ], "failure_modes_and_hazards": [ "Treating geological climate feedback as a rapid response can lead to serious underestimation of near-term climate risks.", "Incomplete accounting of carbon transfers can overstate the net carbon removal attributed to weathering interventions.", "Applying simplified cycle models without local evidence can obscure ecological impacts and uncertainty in proposed interventions." ], "facets_not_applicable": { "interfaces": "No single formal standard or regulation applies to the natural cycle itself.", "recognition": "The cycle is a distributed geological process inferred from multiple observations rather than a visually identifiable object or event." } }, "sources": [ { "id": "wikidata", "title": "Wikidata item Q209890: carbonate–silicate cycle", "url": "https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q209890", "url_status": "live", "what_it_supports": "identity and sense of the item", "checked_by": "wikidata-api" }, { "id": "wikipedia-en", "title": "Wikipedia: Carbonate–silicate cycle", "url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbonate%E2%80%93silicate_cycle", "url_status": "live", "what_it_supports": "general description of the item", "checked_by": "wikidata-api sitelink" } ], "structure": { "bundles": [ { "id": "reaction-pathways-and-carbon-accounting", "name": "Reaction pathways and carbon accounting", "description": "Resolve which minerals and acids react and what those reactions imply for carbon uptake.", "rationale": "The cycle cannot be recognised or budgeted reliably from rock dissolution alone.", "layers": [ { "id": "silicate-to-carbonate-pathway", "name": "Silicate-to-carbonate pathway", "description": "Connect silicate alteration to dissolved products and carbonate formation.", "findings": [ { "id": "reaction-chain-and-net-uptake", "name": "Reaction chain and net uptake", "description": "Record balanced reactions for the actual mineral assemblage. The idealised calcium-silicate pathway consumes CO2 during weathering and returns part during carbonate precipitation; its net reaction is CaSiO3 + CO2 → CaCO3 + SiO2. Treat this as an endmember rather than a universal rock composition. [NASA carbon-cycle overview](https://science.nasa.gov/earth/earth-observatory/the-carbon-cycle/)", "questions": [ { "text": "Which silicate minerals, dissolved products and carbonate phases constitute the proposed pathway?", "kind": "definition", "id": "reaction-chain-and-net-uptake-q01" }, { "text": "What net CO2 transfer follows after balancing weathering and downstream precipitation within the chosen boundary?", "kind": "measurement", "id": "reaction-chain-and-net-uptake-q02" } ] } ] }, { "id": "acid-and-lithology-attribution", "name": "Acid and lithology attribution", "description": "Separate silicate-derived uptake from carbonate recycling and acid-driven carbon release.", "findings": [ { "id": "weathering-is-not-automatically-a-sink", "name": "Weathering is not automatically a sink", "description": "Record acid provenance and the silicate/carbonate contribution before assigning carbon uptake. Sulfide oxidation coupled to carbonate dissolution can supply CO2 over geological timescales. [Torres et al., 2014](https://www.nature.com/articles/nature13030)", "questions": [ { "text": "Which observations distinguish carbonic-acid weathering from sulfide-derived sulfuric-acid weathering?", "kind": "provenance", "id": "weathering-is-not-automatically-a-sink-q01" }, { "text": "How much of the measured solute flux represents silicate alteration, carbonate dissolution or other sources?", "kind": "measurement", "id": "weathering-is-not-automatically-a-sink-q02" } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "weathering-environments-and-climate-response", "name": "Weathering environments and climate response", "description": "Represent where silicate alteration occurs and how its rate responds to changing conditions.", "rationale": "Continental and seafloor pathways require distinct controls, and feedback strength cannot be inferred from total weathering alone.", "layers": [ { "id": "continental-and-seafloor-partition", "name": "Continental and seafloor partition", "description": "Separate exposed-land weathering from alteration of oceanic crust.", "findings": [ { "id": "distinct-weathering-environments", "name": "Distinct weathering environments", "description": "Maintain separate continental and seafloor flux estimates and response laws. Geological inverse modelling has treated their contributions separately when constraining carbon-cycle feedback. [Krissansen-Totton and Catling, 2017](https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms15423)", "questions": [ { "text": "Which continental catchments and seafloor alteration environments are included, and which exchanges cross the model boundary?", "kind": "boundary", "id": "distinct-weathering-environments-q01" }, { "text": "What observations constrain the flux assigned to each environment rather than merely their combined total?", "kind": "provenance", "id": "distinct-weathering-environments-q02" } ] } ] }, { "id": "rate-limits-and-feedback", "name": "Rate limits and feedback", "description": "Connect climate forcing to weathering response under explicit physical constraints.", "findings": [ { "id": "conditional-weathering-feedback", "name": "Conditional weathering feedback", "description": "Record temperature, runoff, CO2 and mineral-supply dependencies together with the range over which they apply. Do not assume identical feedback strength across continental and seafloor settings. [Krissansen-Totton and Catling, 2017](https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms15423)", "questions": [ { "text": "Which evidence identifies the dominant limitation on weathering under the conditions being assessed?", "kind": "measurement", "id": "conditional-weathering-feedback-q01" }, { "text": "Under the proposed perturbation, does weathering change enough to oppose atmospheric CO2 change, and over what interval?", "kind": "action", "id": "conditional-weathering-feedback-q02" } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "alkalinity-routing-and-carbonate-storage", "name": "Alkalinity routing and carbonate storage", "description": "Follow dissolved weathering products into receiving waters and geological carbon storage.", "rationale": "Upstream dissolution does not establish the magnitude or persistence of downstream carbon storage.", "layers": [ { "id": "dissolved-product-routing", "name": "Dissolved product routing", "description": "Track carbon, alkalinity and cations through connected water reservoirs.", "findings": [ { "id": "transport-and-transformation-budget", "name": "Transport and transformation budget", "description": "Record dissolved inorganic carbon, alkalinity and major-cation transfers separately, including transformations along the route. River transport links terrestrial weathering products to marine carbonate formation. [NASA carbon-cycle overview](https://science.nasa.gov/earth/earth-observatory/the-carbon-cycle/)", "questions": [ { "text": "Which river, groundwater and ocean boundaries carry the weathering-derived dissolved products?", "kind": "boundary", "id": "transport-and-transformation-budget-q01" }, { "text": "What measured gains or losses occur between mineral dissolution and delivery to the receiving carbonate system?", "kind": "measurement", "id": "transport-and-transformation-budget-q02" } ] } ] }, { "id": "carbonate-production-and-preservation", "name": "Carbonate production and preservation", "description": "Distinguish carbonate formation from preservation in sedimentary storage.", "findings": [ { "id": "net-burial-and-secondary-reactions", "name": "Net burial and secondary reactions", "description": "Record gross precipitation, subsequent dissolution and net burial separately. Include reverse weathering where relevant: marine authigenic silicate formation can affect ocean pH and carbon partitioning. [Isson and Planavsky, 2018](https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-018-0408-4)", "questions": [ { "text": "What fraction of carbonate production survives dissolution and crosses the specified burial boundary?", "kind": "measurement", "id": "net-burial-and-secondary-reactions-q01" }, { "text": "Which evidence constrains alkalinity consumption through authigenic silicate formation in the receiving sediments?", "kind": "provenance", "id": "net-burial-and-secondary-reactions-q02" } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "geological-return-and-cycle-diagnosis", "name": "Geological return and cycle diagnosis", "description": "Connect stored carbon to geological return and evaluate whether the reconstructed cycle closes.", "rationale": "A cycle model must explain storage, return and inventory change without assuming steady state or assigning one universal circulation time.", "layers": [ { "id": "buried-carbon-fate-and-degassing", "name": "Buried carbon fate and degassing", "description": "Represent alternative fates of carbonate-bearing rocks and pathways returning CO2.", "findings": [ { "id": "storage-recycling-and-return-pathways", "name": "Storage, recycling and return pathways", "description": "Record retention, uplift and reweathering, subduction, and metamorphic or magmatic return as distinct pathways. Geological processing can release stored carbon as CO2; a specific buried parcel need not return within the assessment interval. [NASA carbon-cycle overview](https://science.nasa.gov/earth/earth-observatory/the-carbon-cycle/)", "questions": [ { "text": "Which pathways connect the included carbonate stores to reweathering, deeper retention or CO2 release?", "kind": "definition", "id": "storage-recycling-and-return-pathways-q01" }, { "text": "How is recycled carbonate carbon distinguished from other carbon contributing to measured geological degassing?", "kind": "provenance", "id": "storage-recycling-and-return-pathways-q02" } ] } ] }, { "id": "closure-timescales-and-inference", "name": "Closure, timescales and inference", "description": "Assess budget consistency and distinguish observations from model-dependent reconstruction.", "findings": [ { "id": "transient-budget-and-identifiability", "name": "Transient budget and identifiability", "description": "Record inventory changes, flux uncertainties and alternative parameter combinations before diagnosing equilibrium or feedback strength. Geological inverse modelling illustrates the need to constrain weathering and climate jointly. [Krissansen-Totton and Catling, 2017](https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms15423)", "questions": [ { "text": "Do carbon inputs, outputs and inventory changes close within uncertainty over the selected interval?", "kind": "measurement", "id": "transient-budget-and-identifiability-q01" }, { "text": "Which additional observation would best distinguish changes in degassing, weatherability and climate sensitivity?", "kind": "action", "id": "transient-budget-and-identifiability-q02" } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "evidence-and-external-alignment", "name": "Evidence and external alignment", "description": "What the world already says about this thing, gathered so the model can be checked against it.", "rationale": "A model that cannot be lined up against existing standards, identifiers and practice cannot be adopted by anyone who already uses them.", "layers": [ { "id": "reported-evidence", "name": "Reported evidence", "description": "Findings from the breadth pass, kept separate from the structural claims.", "findings": [ { "id": "evidence-confidence-notes", "name": "Check these first", "description": "Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.", "evidence": [ "The term names a physical Earth-system process, even when represented as an abstract model.", "Published models differ in their treatment of seafloor weathering, reverse weathering and carbon recycling; the relative contributions remain research questions.", "The timescale given is an approximate feedback timescale, not a universal cycle period; no sources were consulted for this recall-based description." ], "questions": [ { "id": "evidence-confidence-notes-q01", "text": "Which of these check these first hold for the sense of carbonate-silicate cycle this model covers, and on what evidence?", "kind": "provenance" } ] }, { "id": "evidence-real-world-use", "name": "Real-world use", "description": "Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.", "evidence": [ "Explaining the regulation of Earth's climate over geological timescales through feedback between climate, silicate weathering and atmospheric carbon dioxide.", "Interpreting ancient climate changes using sedimentary records and geochemical models.", "Assessing the potential long-term habitability of rocky planets.", "Providing the geochemical basis for enhanced silicate weathering as a carbon dioxide removal approach." ], "questions": [ { "id": "evidence-real-world-use-q01", "text": "Which of these real-world use hold for the sense of carbonate-silicate cycle this model covers, and on what evidence?", "kind": "provenance" } ] }, { "id": "evidence-measurements", "name": "Typical measurements", "description": "Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.", "evidence": [ { "quantity": "Characteristic timescale of the silicate-weathering climate feedback", "typical_range": "Approximately 100,000-1,000,000; model-dependent and distinct from the time required for complete tectonic recycling", "unit": "years" } ], "questions": [ { "id": "evidence-measurements-q01", "text": "Which of these typical measurements hold for the sense of carbonate-silicate cycle this model covers, and on what evidence?", "kind": "provenance" } ] }, { "id": "evidence-failure-modes-and-hazards", "name": "Failure modes and hazards", "description": "Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.", "evidence": [ "Weathering can become limited by the supply of fresh minerals, weakening its response to increased temperature and carbon dioxide.", "Changes in tectonic degassing, erosion, runoff or exposed rock composition can shift the balance between carbon release and removal.", "The natural feedback acts too slowly to counter human carbon dioxide emissions on decadal timescales.", "Carbonate precipitation releases some carbon dioxide, so counting weathering uptake without downstream reactions can overstate net carbon removal.", "Weathering driven by sulfuric acid rather than carbonic acid can have a different net carbon balance." ], "questions": [ { "id": "evidence-failure-modes-and-hazards-q01", "text": "Which of these failure modes and hazards hold for the sense of carbonate-silicate cycle this model covers, and on what evidence?", "kind": "provenance" } ] }, { "id": "evidence-regional-variation", "name": "Regional variation", "description": "Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.", "evidence": [ "Weathering rates vary with temperature, runoff, vegetation, erosion and the availability of reactive minerals.", "Basaltic terrains commonly weather more readily than many silica-rich crystalline terrains under comparable conditions.", "Continental weathering and ocean-crust alteration occur in different environments and respond differently to climate and fluid circulation." ], "questions": [ { "id": "evidence-regional-variation-q01", "text": "Which of these regional variation hold for the sense of carbonate-silicate cycle this model covers, and on what evidence?", "kind": "provenance" } ] }, { "id": "evidence-neighbours", "name": "Neighbouring kinds and how to tell them apart", "description": "Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.", "evidence": [ { "name": "Carbon cycle", "difference": "The carbon cycle includes all major carbon transfers; the carbonate-silicate cycle concerns a particular set of long-term geological transfers." }, { "name": "Carbonate weathering", "difference": "Carbonate weathering dissolves existing carbonate minerals; unlike carbonic-acid weathering of silicates followed by carbonate burial, dissolution followed by reprecipitation does not by itself produce a sustained net carbon dioxide sink." }, { "name": "Organic carbon burial", "difference": "Organic carbon burial stores biologically reduced carbon, whereas the carbonate-silicate pathway stores carbon principally in carbonate minerals." }, { "name": "Enhanced weathering", "difference": "Enhanced weathering is a deliberate intervention to accelerate mineral weathering; the carbonate-silicate cycle is the broader natural geological process." } ], "questions": [ { "id": "evidence-neighbours-q01", "text": "Which of these neighbouring kinds and how to tell them apart hold for the sense of carbonate-silicate cycle this model covers, and on what evidence?", "kind": "provenance" } ] } ] } ] } ] }, "openQuestions": [ "For the target interval, how tightly can continental and seafloor weathering contributions be separated from the available observations?", "Where do mineral supply, water transport or secondary-mineral formation limit the expected weathering response to warming?", "How much weathering-derived alkalinity survives transport and sediment reactions to support persistent carbon storage?", "What fractions of buried carbonate carbon are retained, reweathered or returned through metamorphic and magmatic pathways, and with what delays?", "Which combinations of acid sources, carbonate dissolution and external carbon fluxes could explain the observations without implying a stronger silicate-weathering sink?" ], "statistics": { "bundles": 5, "layers": 9, "findings": 14, "questions": 22 } }