Zoom Link: https://umass-amherst.zoom.us/j/96762178784?pwd=blZINmsvQU0wZ0dMVHgvYXh5...
The Earth is warming at an unprecedented pace due to the release of carbon dioxide from the burning of fossil fuels. Our society is now in the great transition to a more sustainable energy supply with a focus on increasing domestic supply of critical minerals. The development of portable and powerful energy storage mechanisms is essential to replace our dependence on high-energy density fossil fuels. Lithium-ion batteries have emerged as the most important technology for this purpose and are ubiquitous in the auto industry. The element lithium is abundant in the Earth’s crust, however, ore deposit models for lithium lag behind. The demand for lithium has grown exponentially and the price of lithium has increased by several 100% in the last two years. Economic deposits of lithium are found in pegmatites, closed-basin continental brines, and clays. Emerging oil-field and geothermal brines could eventually become economic and are getting increased attention. The origin of the lithium brines and their distribution worldwide is fundamentally tied to the geology, hydrogeology, and geochemistry of the host basin system. This talk focuses on the multifaceted role of (ground) water and hydrogeochemistry in transporting, accumulating, and extracting lithium in continental brines. Field examples from Northern Argentina and Chile and the Great Basin of the United States highlight the interdisciplinary nature of the origin and evolution of continental lithium brine and clay deposits. Many aspects of geosciences including volcanology, sedimentology, geomorphology, geochemistry, geophysics, paleoclimate, structural geology and tectonics combined with hydrogeosciences make this a particularly exciting example of the importance of earth sciences to future energy supplies. The environmental impacts of lithium brine pumping are explored and discussed in the context of balancing the sustainability of lithium-ion batteries.