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<front>
<journal-meta>
<journal-id journal-id-type="publisher">EGUsphere</journal-id>
<journal-title-group>
<journal-title>EGUsphere</journal-title>
<abbrev-journal-title abbrev-type="publisher">EGUsphere</abbrev-journal-title>
<abbrev-journal-title abbrev-type="nlm-ta">EGUsphere</abbrev-journal-title>
</journal-title-group>
<issn pub-type="epub"></issn>
<publisher><publisher-name>Copernicus Publications</publisher-name>
<publisher-loc>Göttingen, Germany</publisher-loc>
</publisher>
</journal-meta>
<article-meta>
<article-id pub-id-type="doi">10.5194/egusphere-2026-2930</article-id>
<title-group>
<article-title>Toward shellfish aquaculture circularity: stimulating mussel shell dissolution in marine sediments</article-title>
</title-group>
<contrib-group><contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Goossens</surname>
<given-names>Cedric</given-names>
<ext-link>https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6161-5979</ext-link>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1">
<sup>1</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Bouillon</surname>
<given-names>Steven</given-names>
<ext-link>https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7669-2929</ext-link>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff2">
<sup>2</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Meysman</surname>
<given-names>Filip J. R.</given-names>
<ext-link>https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5334-7655</ext-link>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1">
<sup>1</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>van de Velde</surname>
<given-names>Sebastiaan J.</given-names>
<ext-link>https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9999-5586</ext-link>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff3">
<sup>3</sup>
</xref>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff4">
<sup>4</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
</contrib-group><aff id="aff1">
<label>1</label>
<addr-line>Geobiology Research Group, University of Antwerp, Wilrijk, 2610, Belgium</addr-line>
</aff>
<aff id="aff2">
<label>2</label>
<addr-line>Division of Soil and Water Management, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Heverlee, 3001, Belgium</addr-line>
</aff>
<aff id="aff3">
<label>3</label>
<addr-line>Department of Marine Science, University of Otago, Ōtepoti Dunedin, 9016, Aotearoa New Zealand</addr-line>
</aff>
<aff id="aff4">
<label>4</label>
<addr-line>Earth Sciences New Zealand, Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington, 6021, Aotearoa New Zealand</addr-line>
</aff>
<pub-date pub-type="epub">
<day>01</day>
<month>06</month>
<year>2026</year>
</pub-date>
<volume>2026</volume>
<fpage>1</fpage>
<lpage>26</lpage>
<permissions>
<copyright-statement>Copyright: &#x000a9; 2026 Cedric Goossens et al.</copyright-statement>
<copyright-year>2026</copyright-year>
<license license-type="open-access">
<license-p>This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this licence, visit <ext-link ext-link-type="uri"  xlink:href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/</ext-link></license-p>
</license>
</permissions>
<self-uri xlink:href="https://egusphere.copernicus.org/preprints/2026/egusphere-2026-2930/">This article is available from https://egusphere.copernicus.org/preprints/2026/egusphere-2026-2930/</self-uri>
<self-uri xlink:href="https://egusphere.copernicus.org/preprints/2026/egusphere-2026-2930/egusphere-2026-2930.pdf">The full text article is available as a PDF file from https://egusphere.copernicus.org/preprints/2026/egusphere-2026-2930/egusphere-2026-2930.pdf</self-uri>
<abstract>
<p>Ocean alkalinity enhancement (OAE) is receiving considerable attention as a carbon dioxide (CO&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt;) removal strategy, and novel approaches to increase the total alkalinity (A&lt;sub&gt;T&lt;/sub&gt;) of the surface ocean are being explored. In bivalve aquaculture, calcification during shell growth consumes A&lt;sub&gt;T&lt;/sub&gt;, thus leading to CO&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt; emissions. After consumption, shells are typically landfilled or incinerated, which can generate additional CO&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt; emissions. Here, we investigate whether bivalve shells could be a potential resource for mineral-based OAE. The idea is to grind the calcium carbonate (CaCO&lt;sub&gt;3&lt;/sub&gt;) shells to increase the reactive surface area and distribute them into permeable, oxygen-rich sediments, where their dissolution produces A&lt;sub&gt;T&lt;/sub&gt; that could then compensate the CO&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt; emitted during calcification. To evaluate this concept, we conducted microcosm incubations of sediments amended with crushed mussel shells (~8 wt%), and monitored the sediment geochemistry and sediment-water exchange over 24 weeks. Control sediments exhibited low and constant CaCO&lt;sub&gt;3&lt;/sub&gt; dissolution rates (R&lt;sub&gt;diss&lt;/sub&gt; = 0.9 &amp;plusmn; 0.5 mmol m&lt;sup&gt;-2&lt;/sup&gt; d&lt;sup&gt;-1&lt;/sup&gt;) and A&lt;sub&gt;T&lt;/sub&gt; fluxes (F&lt;sub&gt;AT&lt;/sub&gt; = 3.2 &amp;plusmn; 1.1 mmol m&lt;sup&gt;-2&lt;/sup&gt; d&lt;sup&gt;-1&lt;/sup&gt;). In contrast, shell-amended sediments showed markedly higher R&lt;sub&gt;diss&lt;/sub&gt; and F&lt;sub&gt;AT &lt;/sub&gt;values, which exhibited a transient response modulated by oxygen and organic matter availability. Initially, shell dissolution was restricted by oxygen availability due to the intense mineralization of shell-associated organic matter. Subsequently, following gradual sediment reoxygenation, dissolution rates increased, reaching a maximum R&lt;sub&gt;diss&lt;/sub&gt; of 22.7 &amp;plusmn; 2.6 mmol m&lt;sup&gt;-2&lt;/sup&gt; d&lt;sup&gt;-1&lt;/sup&gt; after 9 weeks, corresponding to a measured F&lt;sub&gt;AT&lt;/sub&gt; of 43.0 &amp;plusmn; 6.0 mmol m&lt;sup&gt;-2&lt;/sup&gt; d&lt;sup&gt;-1&lt;/sup&gt;. After that, CaCO&lt;sub&gt;3&lt;/sub&gt; dissolution rates declined as organic matter availability decreased, thus reducing dissolution toward a constant steady-state R&lt;sub&gt;diss&lt;/sub&gt; of 2.2 &amp;plusmn; 1.1 mmol m&lt;sup&gt;-2&lt;/sup&gt; d&lt;sup&gt;-1&lt;/sup&gt;. After 6 months, ~6 % of the initial shell mass had dissolved, and extrapolation of the new quasi-steady-state dissolution rate at the end of the experiment suggests that complete dissolution would take ~38 years. Our results suggest that organic matter availability limits CaCO&lt;sub&gt;3&lt;/sub&gt; dissolution in the permeable sediment investigated. This constraint, however, can be alleviated by targeting environments with high organic matter deposition for in-situ applications, such as sediments beneath mussel farms, thereby promoting mussel aquaculture circularity.</p>
</abstract>
<counts><page-count count="26"/></counts>
<funding-group>
<award-group id="gs1">
<funding-source>Belgian Federal Science Policy Office</funding-source>
<award-id>RV/21/DEHEAT</award-id>
</award-group>
<award-group id="gs2">
<funding-source>Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek</funding-source>
<award-id>S000619N</award-id>
</award-group>
<award-group id="gs3">
<funding-source>Universiteit Antwerpen</funding-source>
<award-id>BOF</award-id>
</award-group>
</funding-group>
</article-meta>
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