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Metamorphic decarbonation, silicate weathering and the long‐term carbon cycle
Author(s) -
Bickle M.J.
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
terra nova
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.353
H-Index - 89
eISSN - 1365-3121
pISSN - 0954-4879
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-3121.1996.tb00756.x
Subject(s) - weathering , metamorphic rock , geology , silicate , geochemistry , carbon cycle , atmosphere (unit) , carbon fibers , myr , earth science , flux (metallurgy) , seawater , oceanography , materials science , chemistry , metallurgy , ecology , physics , ecosystem , composite material , biology , thermodynamics , biochemistry , organic chemistry , genome , composite number , gene
The seawater 87 Sr/ 86 Sr curve implies a 50–100 Myr episodicity in weathering rate which requires a corresponding variation in CO 2 degassing from the solid earth to the atmosphere. It is proposed that this is caused by orogenesis, which both produces CO 2 as a result of metamorphic decarbonation reactions, and consumes extra CO 2 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 CO 2 fluxes.