WITHDRAWN: Global CO2 Storage Potential of Self‐Sealing Marine Sedimentary Strata

Injection of CO 2 below the seafloor into sedimentary strata where pressures and temperatures would trap the CO 2 through “self‐sealing” gravitational and hydrate‐formation mechanisms has received little interest after analyses of a selection of deep‐sea sediment cores suggested that such storage would not likely be feasible. Attention with respect to offshore CO 2 storage has since shifted to the possibility of injecting CO 2 into sub‐seafloor basalt layers embedded within impermeable strata. Here we re‐examine the storage potential of self‐sealing marine sedimentary strata using a more comprehensive, global dataset of deep‐sea sediment cores, heat flow measurements, bathymetry, and sediment thickness maps. In contrast to previous reports, we find the CO 2 storage potential of these strata to be abundant. We map out the worldwide distribution and thicknesses of self‐sealing marine sedimentary strata, which we estimate to have a total bulk sediment volume of 63 million cubic kilometers. Of this, roughly 1.3–2.7% may prove suitable for CO 2 storage. This storage is unevenly distributed where it lies within the Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ) of the world's largest CO 2 emitting economies. The United States and India respectively release 16% and 62% of their annual CO 2 emissions (or 1 Bt/y and 800 Mt/y) within 500 km of self‐sealing strata located in their EEZs, while only 6% of the annual emissions from China and the European Union (or 330 Mt/y and 250 Mt/y, respectively) occur within this distance.