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Hidden carbon sink beneath desert
Author(s) -
Li Yan,
Wang YuGang,
Houghton R. A.,
Tang LiSong
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1002/2015gl064222
Subject(s) - arid , carbon sink , sink (geography) , environmental science , carbon cycle , carbon dioxide , carbon fibers , carbon sequestration , aquifer , hydrology (agriculture) , earth science , geology , groundwater , oceanography , ecology , climate change , geography , ecosystem , paleontology , biology , cartography , materials science , geotechnical engineering , composite number , composite material
For decades, global carbon budget accounting has identified a “missing” or “residual” terrestrial sink; i.e., carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) released by anthropogenic activities does not match changes observed in the atmosphere and ocean. We discovered a potentially large carbon sink in the most unlikely place on earth, irrigated saline/alkaline arid land. When cultivating and irrigating arid/saline lands in arid zones, salts are leached downward. Simultaneously, dissolved inorganic carbon is washed down into the huge saline aquifers underneath vast deserts, forming a large carbon sink or pool. This finding points to a direct, rapid link between the biological and geochemical carbon cycles in arid lands which may alter the overall spatial pattern of the global carbon budget.