Premium
The Interplay Between the Eruption and Weathering of Large Igneous Provinces and the Deep‐Time Carbon Cycle
Author(s) -
Johansson Louis,
Zahirovic Sabin,
Müller R. Dietmar
Publication year - 2018
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 - 10.1029/2017gl076691
Subject(s) - geology , weathering , subaerial , igneous rock , large igneous province , context (archaeology) , earth science , carbon dioxide in earth's atmosphere , geochemistry , paleontology , oceanography , climate change , magmatism , tectonics
Although many sources of atmospheric CO 2 have been estimated, the major sinks are poorly understood in a deep‐time context. Here we combine plate reconstructions, the eruption ages and outlines of Large Igneous Provinces (LIPs), and the atmospheric CO 2 proxy record to investigate how their eruptions and weathering within the equatorial humid zone impacted global atmospheric CO 2 since 400 Ma. Wavelet analysis reveals significant correlations between the eruption of the Emeishan LIP (259 Ma), the Siberian Traps (251 Ma), the Central Atlantic Magmatic Province (201 Ma), the second pulse of the North Atlantic Igneous Province (55 Ma), the High Arctic LIP (130 Ma), and the Deccan Traps (65 Ma) and perturbations in atmospheric CO 2 . Our analysis also reveals a clear relationship between the weathering of the Central Atlantic Magmatic Province (~200–100 Ma), the Deccan Traps (50–35 Ma), and the Afar Arabian LIP (30–0 Ma) and a significant atmospheric CO 2 drawdown. Our results illustrate the significant role of subaerial LIP emplacement and weathering in modulating atmospheric CO 2 and Earth's surface environments.