Water is the most abundant and important solvent on Earth.
Feldspars, a silicate mineral group, are the most common rock-forming minerals in the Earth's crust. Feldspar weathering is a key process in the global CO2 cycle. Calcium ions produced during the weathering process travel via rivers and streams to the oceans. Measuring this rate-limiting step is therefore vital to quantifying the CO2 sink. In addition to properties such as temperature, pressure, surface area, and pH, dissolution rates strongly depend upon the crystallographic structure of the mineral, as well as the crystallographic orientation of the mineral surface exposed to the solution.