ELI5… so does silicate rock take CO2 out of the air and turn it into HCO3, Mg and Ca?

Question

I was [reading initially about](https://www.climate.gov/news-features/climate-qa/whats-hottest-earths-ever-been) global temperature characteristics throughout the ages, trying to understand what things are going to look like, what might happen, etc.

CO2 levels are referred to in the article and mentions

So I looked up more information on silicate rock and it’s relationship with CO2 and found this [article](https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1029/2020EF001938)

So basically, silicate rock removes CO2 from circulation and repurposes it to something else?

In: Planetary Science

Answer 1

Carbon dioxide in water forms a mild acid. This acid can ‘attack’ silicate rocks, resulting in a chain of reactions that ‘consumes’ the carbon dioxide. The end product of these reactions typically being the formation of a ‘carbonate’ rock. As more carbon dioxide is available one would expect the rate this is occurring at is increasing.