Characterization of climbing chalks; the first step to creating a sustainable alternative

攀岩粉笔用于攀岩，以增加攀岩者的手与岩石表面之间的摩擦系数。这种白垩本身不是白垩（碳酸钙，CaCO3），而是主要由菱镁矿（MgCO3）以及个别公司可能添加的任何添加剂组成。目前，用于制造攀爬白垩的菱镁矿几乎70%来自中国东北的矿山。这种采矿产生的粉尘与大规模植物死亡、土壤退化和微生物活动减少有关。为减轻环境污染而实施的政策变化，加上COVID-19的影响，导致“世界市场上所有等级的氧化镁供应不稳定，供应有限”。在这个项目中，我们将确定矿物和化学成分，晶体大小和形状，吸收率，孔隙率，渗透率和摩擦系数的市售白垩产品。此外，我们将调查地质文献，以确定国内潜在的菱镁矿来源，并研究利用大气中的二氧化碳合成菱镁矿的可能性。该项目将有助于更好地了解市售攀爬粉笔的成分和性能（包括摩擦系数），从而改进粉笔产品。开发一种从大气二氧化碳中合成菱镁矿的工艺将消除开采白垩生产对环境的影响，并将提供一种额外的二氧化碳封存方法。就加拿大的利益而言，该项目将为加拿大公司提供竞争优势，并有望成为国内菱镁矿（无论是开采还是合成）的来源，这将稳定供应，甚至可能提供新的出口。

Climbing chalk is used in rock climbing to increase the friction coefficient between the climber's hand and the rock surface. This chalk is not chalk per se (which is calcium carbonate, CaCO3) but consists primarily of magnesite (MgCO3), along with any additives that individual companies might add. Currently, almost 70% of the magnesite used to manufacture climbing chalk comes from mines in northeastern China. The dust from this mining has been implicated in large-scale plant death, soil degradation, and reduced microbial activity. Policy changes implemented to mitigate the environmental contamination, along with the impact of COVID-19, have resulted in "inconsistent supplies and restricted availability of all grades of magnesia in the world market".In this project we will determine the mineral and chemical compositions, crystallite sizes and shapes, absorbencies, porosities, permeabilities, and friction coefficients of commercially available chalk products. In addition, we will survey the geological literature to identify potential domestic sources of magnesite and investigate the possibility of synthesizing magnesite using CO2 from the atmosphere.This project will lead to a better understanding of the composition and properties (including friction coefficients) of commercially available climbing chalk in order to improve chalk products. Developing a process for synthesizing magnesite from atmospheric CO2 would eliminate the environmental impact of mining in chalk production and would also provide an additional method of CO2 sequestration.In terms of benefit to Canada, this project would provide a competitive advantage to a Canadian company and hopefully a domestic source of magnesite (whether mined or synthesized), which would stabilize supply and could even provide a new export.