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Does atmospheric CO 2 police the rate of chemical weathering?
Author(s) -
Broecker Wallace S.,
Sanyal Abhijit
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
global biogeochemical cycles
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.512
H-Index - 187
eISSN - 1944-9224
pISSN - 0886-6236
DOI - 10.1029/98gb01927
Subject(s) - weathering , carbon dioxide , atmosphere (unit) , carbon dioxide in earth's atmosphere , overheating (electricity) , environmental science , astrobiology , carbon cycle , environmental chemistry , atmospheric sciences , earth science , chemistry , geology , meteorology , geochemistry , ecology , physics , organic chemistry , quantum mechanics , ecosystem , biology
A case is made that in the absence of an effective feedback control on the rate of delivery of CaO to the oceans, the CO 2 content of the Earth's atmosphere would have wandered over a large range threatening life either by overheating or by carbon dioxide starvation. In this paper, we defend the suggestion by Walker et al. [1981] that control is exerted by the interaction between the CO 2 content of the atmosphere and the continental weathering rates. We contend that in spite of the arguments raised against it [ Raymo and Ruddiman , 1992; Edmond and Huh , 1997] the CO 2 ‐ chemical weathering feedback is the dominant mechanism that stabilizes the atmospheric carbon dioxide content.