Metamorphic decarbonation, silicate weathering and the long-term carbon cycle |
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| Authors: | MJ Bickle |
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| Institution: | Department of Earth Sciences, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3EQ, UK |
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| Abstract: | The seawater 87Sr/86Sr curve implies a 50–100 Myr episodicity in weathering rate which requires a corresponding variation in CO2 degassing from the solid earth to the atmosphere. It is proposed that this is caused by orogenesis, which both produces CO2 as a result of metamorphic decarbonation reactions, and consumes extra CO2 as a consequence of erosion-enhanced weathering. Global climate on the geological time-scale is therefore contTolled by the difference between the relatively large and variable orogenic-moderated degassing and weathering CO2 fluxes. |
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