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Historical constraints on the origins of the carbon cycle concept
Abstract
Understanding the geological carbon cycle remains a major scientific challenge, although studies dedicated to this issue, in particular those of J.J. Ebelmen in the mid 19th century,
have existed for over 200 years. The exact scientific and social pathways leading to the construction of the contemporaneous carbon cycle requires further investigation, which in
turn may provide valuable insights into the modern state of scientific knowledge. The
present study contributes to this question by demonstrating that, following the discovery
of the compound nature of carbonic acid by A.L. Lavoisier at the end of the 18th century,
studies initially investigated the mechanisms of respiration and photosynthesis until they
were recognized as exerting an antagonistic effect on the composition of air. In the early
19th century, the consequence of these studies at the global scale had been foreseen, and applied to investigate the stability of the atmospheric composition over time. These early steps were only concerned with the fate of carbonic acid through life processes. However, between 1820 and 1840, the works of A.L. Brongniard and J.B. Boussingault established that geologic processes, such as the burial of carbonaceous material (CM) in sedimentary rocks and the release of CO2 by volcanoes, affect the composition of the atmosphere. By 1845, J.J. Ebelmen had brilliantly contributed to the emerging question of atmospheric composition by proposing that the alteration of silicates on continents and the precipitation of carbonates in the ocean should be considered as a sink of atmospheric CO2. He also used chemical formula of the time to quantify this process, which led him to mention a carbon rotation for the first time. The rotation of this element through geologic processes became, in itself, a matter worthy of investigation as was the composition of the atmosphere. We argue that J.J. Ebelmen’s brilliant synthesis was made possible by the parallel development of the atomistic model of matter in the early 19th century by the influential works of J. Dalton and J.J. Berzelius. Finally, through the 19th century, the development of the theory of sediment subsidence and its application by T.S. Hunt to the rotation of carbon, along with the correlated experimental results obtained on the stability of materials at high pressure and temperature, led progressively to a synthetic model of the carbon cycle by V. Vernadsky in the early 20th century. A final shift to this model occurred with the emergence of the theory of plate tectonics and subduction zones that provides a major physical ground to account for C recycling between surfacial and deep reservoirs of the planet.
... It was the early drawings and writings by van Helmont and Marcello Malpighi (1628Malpighi ( -1694 (Malpighi 1675), that allowed Nehemiah Grew (1641-1712) to ponder the existence of exchanges between air, rocks, and organisms (Grew 1682) (see Galvez and Gaillardet 2012). This was further explored by Stephen Hales (1677Hales ( -1761, who introduced a new and ingenious experimental approach (vegetable sticks as pneumatic devices) to measure this ''fixed air'' that exchanged between rocks and organisms (Hales 1727). ...
... It was actually van Leeuwenhoek who in 1674 discovered bacteria (Gest 2004). With this in mind, Joseph Black (1728-1799) and Henry Cavendish (1731-1810), performed some experiments with ''fixed air'' (carbon dioxide), which fit largely into this story, and suggested that fixed air was a component of the atmosphere and an important chemical linkage between minerals and organisms (see Galvez and Gaillardet 2012). Remember, the use of the term fixed air was during Phlogiston period, first introduced by Johann Joachim Becher (1635-1682) and more formally by George Ernst Stahl (1659-1734) in the seventeenth century, whereby phlogiston, was considered a fire-like element released by certain combustible materials during combustion (see Chang 2010). ...
... Remember, the use of the term fixed air was during Phlogiston period, first introduced by Johann Joachim Becher (1635-1682) and more formally by George Ernst Stahl (1659-1734) in the seventeenth century, whereby phlogiston, was considered a fire-like element released by certain combustible materials during combustion (see Chang 2010). It was Antoine Laurent Lavoisier (1743-1794) who led the charge against the phlogiston theory, by first introducing the term carbonic acid (Lavoisier 1781), and then carbonic gas (Lavoisier 1786), thereby replacing the term fixed air (see Galvez and Gaillardet 2012). Lavoisier adroitly recognized that it had a carbonaceous character, and was found in coal and carbonate rock. ...
The evolution of biogeochemistry, retraces the important historical steps in part, covered by Gorham (Biogeochemistry 13:199–239, 1991) in the 18–19th centuries—with new emergent linkages and trends in 20–21st centuries. In the post-phlogiston period, key synthetic connections are made between weathering, atmospheric chemistry, carbon cycling, and climate change. Early work in the 19th century, focused on weathering and the importance of organisms in the exchange of carbon dioxide between the rocks and the atmosphere, provided foundations for new analytical approaches. The role microbes in connecting abiotic and biotic processes begins to emerge, based largely on the existing knowledge of stoichiometry in agricultural soils and plants. This in part, leads to the founding of ecology and its linkages with evolution and biogeography. Verandsky boldly emerges in the 20th century, with his concepts of a biosphere and a noosphere, as concerns begin to arise about human impacts on nature. The development of organic geochemistry as a discipline, allowed for new roots to develop in the evolution of biogeochemistry through linkages between short and long-term carbon cycles. In the 20th century, a new interesting stoichiometry emerges in biogeochemistry—as related to the Green Revolution, human population growth, and eutrophication problems. The advent of long-term and large-scale experiments help to constrain the complexity of non-linearity and regional differences in fluxes and rates in biogeochemical work. A new age begins in the 21st century whereby molecular approaches (e.g. omics) combined with large-scale satellite, monitoring, survey, observatory approaches are combined in the development of Earth System models. These new connections with ecological/evolutionary genetics are one of the more dramatic and important aspects of biogeochemistry in modern times.
... In the mid to late 1800s, around the same time that the importance of carbonic acid was being recognized, at least one scientist, Alexandre Brongniart, at the École des Mines in Paris, France, was arguing that electrical currents between different rock types were responsible for the decomposition of feldspar and the formation of kaolinite in granite (Galvez and Gaillardet, 2012). Although electrical currents are no longer considered to be the root of clay formation, the importance of redox reactions in general was recognized early and remains a focus today. ...
... Thus, Ebelmen laid the foundation for understanding connections between life and weathering under oxidizing conditions at the interface between air and rock (Berner, 2012;Galvez and Gaillardet, 2012), in what we now refer to as the CZ. In describing these reactions, Ebelman recognized that roots and organic acids from plants promote weathering. ...
The base of Earth's critical zone (CZ) is commonly shielded from study by many meters of overlying rock and regolith. Though deep CZ processes may seem far removed from the surface, they are vital in shaping it, preparing rock for infusion into the biosphere and breaking Earth materials down for transport across landscapes. This special issue highlights outstanding challenges and recent advances of deep CZ research in a series of articles that we introduce here in the context of relevant literature dating back to the 1500s. Building on several contributions to the special issue, we highlight four exciting new hypotheses about factors that drive deep CZ weathering and thus influence the evolution of life-sustaining CZ architecture. These hypotheses have emerged from recently developed process-based models of subsurface phenomena including: fracturing related to subsurface stress fields; weathering related to drainage of bedrock under hydraulic head gradients; rock damage from frost cracking due to subsurface temperature gradients; and mineral reactions with reactive fluids in subsurface chemical potential gradients. The models predict distinct patterns of subsurface weathering and CZ thickness that can be compared with observations from drilling, sampling and geophysical imaging. We synthesize the four hypotheses into an overarching conceptual model of fracturing and weathering that occurs as Earth materials are exhumed to the surface across subsurface gradients in stress, hydraulic head, temperature, and chemical potential. We conclude with a call for a coordinated measurement campaign designed to comprehensively test the four hypotheses across a range of climatic, tectonic and geologic conditions. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
... Nevertheless, along with entailing a major revolution in chemical methodology 18,19 , application of these concepts and methods to Earth and life processes motivated a vast amount of work, ultimately shedding more and more light on these basic natural phenomena. Other key contributors to the development of the carbon rotation 20 or cycle 21 included N.T. De Saussure (1767-1845), J. Dalton (1766-1844), J.J. Berzelius (1779-1848), H. Davy (1778-1829), G. Bischof (1792-1870), J.B. Boussingault (1802-1887), J.J. Ebelmen (1814-1852), J. Liebig (1803-1873), V.M. Goldschmidt and W. Vernadsky 7,22 . The latter coined the term cycles in 1923 21 as describing the geochemical history of cyclic, or organogenic, elements, including carbon (Fig. 1C). ...
... In hindsight, the representations of the carbon rotation and cycle have emerged as byproducts of centuries of international efforts aimed at understanding the complex relationship between life and Earth processes in increasingly large but finite systems 7 . This, in essence, is still the major challenge of numerous current scientific efforts. ...
The understanding of how deep carbon processes influence the global carbon cycle is one of the major frontiers of current scientific exploration. However, at the end of the 18 th century, the major frontier was to understand how living organisms interact with atmospheric gases.
... Before discussing this concept, we will introduce the global carbon cycle because it is the conceptual framework on which our understanding of the role of coastal ecosystems in the climate system is based. The global carbon cycle began to be mentioned in the years between 1840 and 1845 (Galvez and Gaillardet, 2012), and gained momentum as the greater availability of computers favoured the development of numerical models in the 1980s and 1990s (e.g., Walker et al., 1981;Broecker and Peng, 1982;Volk and Hoffert, 1985;Berner, 1991). It still poses a number of open questions (e.g., Lee et al., 2020;Müller et al., 2022), but the discussion of which goes beyond the scope of this article. ...
Data were obtained from the literature to identify past changes in and the present status of the coastal carbon cycle. They indicate that marine coastal ecosystems driving the coastal carbon cycle cover, on average, 5.8% of the Earth’s surface and contributed 55.2% to carbon transport from the climate-active carbon cycle to the geological carbon cycle. The data suggest that humans not only increase the CO 2 concentration in the atmosphere but also mitigate (and before 1860 even balanced) their CO 2 emissions by increasing CO 2 storage within marine coastal ecosystems. Soil degradation in response to the expansion and intensification of agriculture is assumed to be a key process driving the enhanced CO 2 storage in marine coastal ecosystems because it increases the supply of lithogenic matter that is known to favour the burial of organic matter in sediments. After 1860, rising CO 2 concentrations in the atmosphere indicate that enhanced CO 2 emissions caused by land-use changes and the burning of fossil fuel disturbed what was a quasi-steady state before. Ecosystem restoration and the potential expansion of forest cover could mitigate the increase of atmospheric CO 2 concentrations, but this carbon sink to the atmosphere is much too weak to represent an alternative to the reduction of CO 2 emission in order to keep global warming below 1.5–2.°C. Although the contribution of benthic marine coastal ecosystems to the global CO 2 uptake potential of ecosystem restoration is only around 6%, this could be significant given national carbon budgets. However, the impact on climate is still difficult to quantify because the associated effects on CH 4 and N 2 O emissions have not been established. Addressing these uncertainties is one of the challenges faced by future research, as are related issues concerning estimates of carbon fluxes between the climate-active and the geological carbon cycle and the development of suitable methods to quantify changes in the CO 2 uptake of pelagic ecosystems in the ocean.
... consacre à cette question. 17 Ce décalage par rapport à la conception malthusienne des ressources doit être distingué d'une autre conception s'écartant elle aussi du paradigme malthusien et qui a en partie nourri Gaïa : celle des cycles chimiques de la matière et du recyclage, établie dès le XIX e siècle et à l'oeuvre dans les études des cycles biogéochimiques contemporains (sur l'histoire des conceptions des cycles de l'eau et de éléments chimiques, voir les travaux en cours de Jean-Baptiste Fressoz, Galvez et Gaillardet, 2012 ;Hamlin, 1985Hamlin, , 1986Marald 2002), ainsi que les travaux de Jacques Grinevald 1987Grinevald , 1990Grinevald , 1998. Ici, l'environnement reste une ressource, mais cette ressource peut croître au même rythme qu'une population donnée, si des boucles de Avec Gaïa, on passe également d'une conception dans laquelle il existe des environnements (ou des niches) ou des milieux environnant différents types de vivants à une conception dans laquelle il n'existe qu'un environnement unique. ...
... Ecologists have been systematically examining and describing nature's cycles for more than 150 years now. The building blocks of the global nitrogen cycle [19] as well as the global carbon cycle [20] were discovered in the nineteenth century. Is it possible to derive a broad set of principles from this large body of knowledge that informs a new type of engineering that is inspired by ecology and that may point the way to a sustainable development? ...
In the past decades, the search for a more sustainable way of global development has increased in importance in international politics and economy. A driving force is the continuing degradation of the environment in many areas of the world, often caused or accelerated by population growth and climate change. Sustainable development is seen as key approach to mitigate these processes. It has been defined as “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” But how can this ambitious goal be achieved in the light of numerous global challenges? Engineering is a very influential human practice and must be addressed in this context. Engineers are crucially involved in design and construction of our built environment and thus in shaping almost its entire development. However, when designing a solution for a given problem, effects caused outside of the system borders are often not considered. If this is combined with a narrowly confined linear problem-solving approach, it is inherently prone to create new environmental challenges. We postulate that the development of a new design paradigm for engineering must be part of the progress towards sustainable development. We think that this new paradigm needs to integrate a sound understanding of ecological principles, processes, and interdependencies as well as thorough system thinking. We call this ecology-inspired approach to engineering “ecological engineering” and redefine it as follows: Ecological Engineering integrates ecological principles, processes, and organisms with existing engineering practice to a holistic approach for problem-solving. In this paper, we explore the historical development of earlier definitions of Ecological Engineering in the light of their underlying value systems. Based on this analysis, we propose a new conceptual approach for Ecological Engineering and define seven principles that point the way towards a future label that can be conferred to Good Ecological Engineering Practice.
... (Raspe, 1776b, p. xxviii-xxix) On the other hand, gaseous expulsions were recognized early on as an inherently powerful attribute of eruptive activity. Spallanzani (1795) indicated water vapor as the most common magmatic gas and outlined an idea of a "general circulation" of elements, including thermal liberation of CO 2 from decomposed minerals (see Sigurdsson, 1999;Galvez and Gaillardet, 2012). In this context, Judd (1881, p. 8) called the volcano "a kind of great natural steam-engine," and added that "our best method of investigating its action is to watch it when a part of the steam-supply is cut off." ...
Although the prime causation of the Late Devonian Frasnian–Famennian (F–F) mass extinction remains conjectural, such destructive factors as the spread of anoxia and rapid upheavals in the runaway greenhouse climate are generally accepted in the Earth-bound multicausal scenario. In terms of prime triggers of these global changes, volcanism paroxysm coupled with the Eovariscan tectonism has been suspected for many years. However, the recent discovery of multiple anomalous mercury enrichments at the worldwide scale provides a reliable factual basis for proposing a volcanic–tectonic scenario for the stepwise F–F ecological catastrophe, specifically the Kellwasser (KW) Crisis. A focus is usually on the cataclysmic emplacement of the Viluy large igneous province (LIP) in eastern Siberia. However, the long-lasted effusive outpouring was likely episodically paired with amplified arc magmatism and hydrothermal activity, and the rapid climate oscillations and glacioustatic responses could in fact have been promoted by diverse feedbacks driven by volcanism and tectonics. The anti-greenhouse effect of expanding intertidal–estuarine and riparian woodlands during transient CO2-greenhouse spikes was another key feedback on Late Devonian land. An updated volcanic press-pulse model is proposed with reference to the recent timing of LIPs and arc magmatism and the revised date of 371.9 Ma for the F–F boundary. The global changes were initiated by the pre-KW effusive activity of LIPs, which caused extreme stress in the global ecosystem. Nevertheless, at least two decisive pulses of sill-type intrusions and/or kimberlite/carbonatite eruptions, in addition to flood basalt extrusions on the East European Platform, are thought to have eventually led to the end-Frasnian ecological catastrophe. These stimuli have been enhanced by effective orbital modulation. An attractive option is to apply the scenario to other Late Devonian global events, as evidences in particular by the Hg spikes that coincide with the end-Famennian Hangenberg Crisis.
... (Raspe, 1776b, p. xxviii-xxix) On the other hand, gaseous expulsions were recognized early on as an inherently powerful attribute of eruptive activity. Spallanzani (1795) indicated water vapor as the most common magmatic gas and outlined an idea of a "general circulation" of elements, including thermal liberation of CO 2 from decomposed minerals (see Sigurdsson, 1999;Galvez and Gaillardet, 2012). In this context, Judd (1881, p. 8) called the volcano "a kind of great natural steam-engine," and added that "our best method of investigating its action is to watch it when a part of the steam-supply is cut off." ...
This volume covers new developments and research on mass extinctions, volcanism, and impacts, ranging from the ancient Central Iapetus magmatic province linked with the Gaskiers glaciation to thermogenic degassing in large igneous provinces, the global mercury enrichment in Valanginian sediments, and the Guerrero-Morelos carbonate platform response to the Caribbean-Colombian Cretaceous large igneous province. This section is followed by a series of end-Cretaceous studies, including the implications for the Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary event in shallow platform environments and correlation to the deep sea; the role of wildfires linked to Deccan volcanism on ecosystems from the Indian subcontinent; rock magnetic and mineralogical study of Deccan red boles; and factors leading to the collapse of producers during Deccan Traps eruptions and the Chicxulub impact.
... Equipped with TERS and these new questions, the SEI in all batteries is one step closer to being understood, and possibly the complete pictures of the SEI for all batteries will turn out to be mosaics. 1 Recycling carbon dioxide into fuels and chemicals remains a grand challenge of science and engineering. This capability could further decouple CO 2 emissions from economic growth, in addition to aiding the mitigation of rising global CO 2 emissions. ...
Recycling CO2 into fuels and chemicals would lessen dependence on fossil fuels and help to mitigate CO2 emissions. Writing in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, U.S.A., Patterson et al. propose that solar methanol islands, man-made oceanic structures that use renewable energy to harvest CO2 from seawater, perform catalysis, and generate methanol, could provide a new approach to recycling carbon dioxide into liquid fuels.
... Ebelmen recognized that this process leads to an increase in carbon dioxide and decrease in oxygen in the atmosphere (Berner and Maasch, 1996). With Ebelmen's early work, the basic inner workings of carbon cycle had been assembled [compare historical perspectives by Berner and Maasch (1996) and Galvez and Gaillardet (2012)]. In the last decade of the 19 th Century, Svante Arrhenius, Arvid Högbom, and Thomas Chamberlin pioneered in developing a more sophisticated understanding on the relationships and geological feedbacks between atmospheric carbon dioxide, chemical weathering reactions, and organic geochemical cycles, with a growing appreciation for the relevance of these factors on global climate (Arrhenius, 1896;Chamberlin, 1899a;Berner, 1995 and references therein). ...
Weathering, erosion, and redeposition of exhumed rock-derived or “petrogenic” organic carbon (OC) co-occurs with the burial of biospheric OC within sediments, modulating atmospheric CO2 and O2 over geologic time. Disentangling the geochemical fingerprint of petrogenic OC from biospheric OC in sedimentary organic matter, as well as quantifying the influence of its remineralization and burial on atmospheric CO2/O2, has been the focus of numerous observational and geochemical modeling studies. In 1938, Matti Sauramo recognized that petrogenic OC is entrained in a “simple carbon” cycle operating alongside the “complicated” greater rest of the carbon cycle. Sauramo's achievements were preceded by Charles Lyell's thoughts on the subject a century earlier, and by observations of reworked palynomorphs in the modern environment made by palynologists in the 19th Century. Towards the present, palynologists, organic petrologists, and geochemists have all made key advances, while their impact often did not radiate beyond their respective bodies of literature. This highlights the importance not only of further investigations focused on the continued pursuit of new information, but also on studies of the history of relevant disciplines in order to place new findings in appropriate context. Petrogenic OC cycling has emerged as a key process for constraining global carbon budgets, long-term biogeochemical cycles and associated variations in atmospheric chemistry. While petrogenic OC is now recognized as a significant component of bulk sedimentary OC in modern systems, its cycling throughout Earth's history - including during pivotal episodes such as supercontinent amalgamation and late Proterozoic Snowball Earth events followed by greenhouse conditions - remains largely unexplored.
... Therefore, it is important to have a good understanding of how carbon is being cycled throughout the planet. The cycling of carbon has been studied since the eighteenth century (Galvez and Gaillardet 2012); however, it is only recently that the deep global carbon cycle has Abstract We have performed experiments to determine the effects of pressure, temperature and oxygen fugacity on the CO 2 contents in nominally anhydrous andesitic melts at graphite saturation. The andesite composition was specifically chosen to match a low-degree partial melt composition that is generated from MORB-like eclogite in the convective, oceanic upper mantle. ...
We have performed experiments to determine the effects of pressure, temperature and oxygen fugacity on the CO2 contents in nominally anhydrous andesitic melts at graphite saturation. The andesite composition was specifically chosen to match a low-degree partial melt composition that is generated from MORB-like eclogite in the convective, oceanic upper mantle. Experiments were performed at 1–3 GPa, 1375–1550 °C, and fO2 of FMQ −3.2 to FMQ −2.3 and the resulting experimental glasses were analyzed for CO2 and H2O contents using FTIR and SIMS. Experimental results were used to develop a thermodynamic model to predict CO2 content of nominally anhydrous andesitic melts at graphite saturation. Fitting of experimental data returned thermodynamic parameters for dissolution of CO2 as molecular CO2: ln(K0) = −21.79 ± 0.04, ΔV0 = 32.91 ± 0.65 cm3mol−1, ΔH0 = 107 ± 21 kJ mol−1, and dissolution of CO2 as CO32−: ln(K0) = −21.38 ± 0.08, ΔV0 = 30.66 ± 1.33 cm3 mol−1, ΔH0 = 42 ± 37 kJ mol−1, where K0 is the equilibrium constant at some reference pressure and temperature, ΔV0 is the volume change of reaction, and ΔH0 is the enthalpy change of reaction. The thermodynamic model was used along with trace element partition coefficients to calculate the CO2 contents and CO2/Nb ratios resulting from the mixing of a depleted MORB and the partial melt of a graphite-saturated eclogite. Comparison with natural MORB and OIB data suggests that the CO2 contents and CO2/Nb ratios of CO2-enriched oceanic basalts cannot be produced by mixing with partial melts of graphite-saturated eclogite. Instead, they must be produced by melting of a source containing carbonate. This result places a lower bound on the oxygen fugacity for the source region of these CO2-enriched basalts, and suggests that fO2 measurements made on cratonic xenoliths may not be applicable to the convecting upper mantle. CO2-depleted basalts, on the other hand, are consistent with mixing between depleted MORB and partial melts of a graphite-saturated eclogite. Furthermore, calculations suggest that eclogite can remain saturated in graphite in the convecting upper mantle, acting as a reservoir for C.
... It arrived on the research landscape very recently (primarily since the 1980s), and some scholars have suggested that it represents an emerging paradigm [Malone and Roederer, 1985;ICSU, 1986;Grinevald, 1987;Hamilton and Grinevald, 2015]. Earth System science builds on the long history of advances in the geosciences [Oldroyd, 1996;Bard, 2004;Galvez and Gaillardet, 2012] and on more recent system-level thinking applied to the climate and the biosphere [Budyko, 1986;Clark and Munn, 1986;NASA, 1988;Rambler et al., 1989]. ...
Stratigraphy provides insights into the evolution and dynamics of the Earth System over
its long history. With recent developments in Earth System science, changes in Earth System dynamics can now be observed directly and projected into the near future. An integration of the two approaches provides powerful insights into the nature and significance of contemporary changes to Earth. From both perspectives, the Earth has been pushed out of the Holocene Epoch by human activities, with the mid-20th century a strong candidate for the start date of the Anthropocene, the proposed new epoch in Earth history. Here we explore two contrasting scenarios for the future of the Anthropocene, recognizing that the Earth System has already undergone a substantial transition away from the Holocene state.
A rapid shift of societies toward the UN Sustainable Development Goals could stabilize the Earth System in a state with more intense interglacial conditions than in the late Quaternary climate regime and with little further biospheric change. In contrast, a continuation of the present Anthropocene trajectory of growing human pressures will likely lead to biotic impoverishment and a much warmer climate with a significant loss of polar ice.
Submarine turbidity currents form the largest sediment accumulations on Earth, raising the question of their role in global carbon cycles. It was previously inferred that terrestrial organic carbon was primarily incinerated on shelves and that most turbidity current systems are presently inactive. Turbidity currents were thus not considered in global carbon cycles, and the burial efficiency of global terrestrial organic carbon was considered low to moderate (∼10–44%). However, recent work has shown that burial of terrestrial organic carbon by turbidity currents is highly efficient (>60–100%) in a range of settings and that flows occur more frequently than once thought, although they were far more active at sea-level lowstands. This leads to revised global estimates for mass flux (∼62–90 Mt C/year) and burial efficiency (∼31–45%) of terrestrial organic carbon in marine sediments. Greatly increased burial fluxes during sea-level lowstands are also likely underestimated; thus, organic carbon cycling by turbidity currents could play a role in long-term changes in atmospheric CO 2 and climate.
Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Marine Science, Volume 16 is January 2024. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.
For centuries, people have understood that forests, and our utilisation of them, influence the climate. With modern environmental concerns, there is now scientific, governmental, and popular interest in planting trees for climate protection. This book examines the historical origins of the idea that forests influence climate, the bitter controversy that ended the science, and its modern rebirth. Spanning the 1500s to the present, it provides a broad perspective across the physical and biological sciences, as well as the humanities, to explain the many ways forests influence climate. It describes their use in climate-smart forestry and as a natural climate solution, and demonstrates that in the forest–climate question, human and sylvan fates are linked. Accessibly written with minimal mathematics, it is ideal for students in environmental and related sciences, as well as anyone with an interest in understanding the environmental workings of forests and their interactions with climate.
Stratigraphy provides insights into the evolution and dynamics of the Earth System over its long history. With recent developments in Earth System science, changes in Earth System dynamics can now be observed directly and projected into the near future. An integration of the two approaches provides powerful insights into the nature and significance of contemporary changes to Earth. From both perspectives, the Earth has been pushed out of the Holocene Epoch by human activities, with the mid-20th century a strong candidate for the start date of the Anthropocene, the proposed new epoch in Earth history. Here we explore two contrasting scenarios for the future of the Anthropocene, recognizing that the Earth System has already undergone a substantial transition away from the Holocene state. A rapid shift of societies toward the UN Sustainable Development Goals could stabilise the Earth System in a state with more intense interglacial conditions than in the late Quaternary climate regime and with little further biospheric change. In contrast, a continuation of the present Anthropocene trajectory of growing human pressures will likely lead to biotic impoverishment and a much warmer climate with a significant loss of polar ice.
Carbon plays a fundamental role on Earth. It forms the chemical backbone for all essential organic molecules produced by living organisms. Carbon-based fuels supply most of society's energy, and atmospheric carbon dioxide has a huge impact on Earth's climate. This book provides a complete history of the emergence and development of the new interdisciplinary field of deep carbon science. It traces four centuries of history during which the inner workings of the dynamic Earth were discovered, and documents extraordinary scientific revolutions that changed our understanding of carbon on Earth forever: carbon's origin in exploding stars; the discovery of the internal heat source driving the Earth's carbon cycle; and the tectonic revolution. Written with an engaging narrative style and covering the scientific endeavours of more than a hundred pioneers of deep geoscience, this is a fascinating book for students and researchers working in Earth system science and deep carbon research.
Carbon plays a fundamental role on Earth. It forms the chemical backbone for all essential organic molecules produced by living organisms. Carbon-based fuels supply most of society's energy, and atmospheric carbon dioxide has a huge impact on Earth's climate. This book provides a complete history of the emergence and development of the new interdisciplinary field of deep carbon science. It traces four centuries of history during which the inner workings of the dynamic Earth were discovered, and documents extraordinary scientific revolutions that changed our understanding of carbon on Earth forever: carbon's origin in exploding stars; the discovery of the internal heat source driving the Earth's carbon cycle; and the tectonic revolution. Written with an engaging narrative style and covering the scientific endeavours of more than a hundred pioneers of deep geoscience, this is a fascinating book for students and researchers working in Earth system science and deep carbon research.
Carbon plays a fundamental role on Earth. It forms the chemical backbone for all essential organic molecules produced by living organisms. Carbon-based fuels supply most of society's energy, and atmospheric carbon dioxide has a huge impact on Earth's climate. This book provides a complete history of the emergence and development of the new interdisciplinary field of deep carbon science. It traces four centuries of history during which the inner workings of the dynamic Earth were discovered, and documents extraordinary scientific revolutions that changed our understanding of carbon on Earth forever: carbon's origin in exploding stars; the discovery of the internal heat source driving the Earth's carbon cycle; and the tectonic revolution. Written with an engaging narrative style and covering the scientific endeavours of more than a hundred pioneers of deep geoscience, this is a fascinating book for students and researchers working in Earth system science and deep carbon research.
Cambridge Core - History of Astronomy and Cosmology - Exploring Planetary Climate - by Ralph D. Lorenz
Historians often feel that standard philosophical doctrines about the nature and development of science are not adequate for representing the real history of science. However, when philosophers of science fail to make sense of certain historical events, it is also possible that there is something wrong with the standard historical descriptions of those events, precluding any sensible explanation. If so, philosophical failure can be useful as a guide for improving historiography, and this constitutes a significant mode of productive interaction between the history and the philosophy of science. I illustrate this methodological claim through the case of the Chemical Revolution. I argue that no standard philosophical theory of scientific method can explain why European chemists made a sudden and nearly unanimous switch of allegiance from the phlogiston theory to Lavoisier's theory. A careful re-examination of the history reveals that the shift was neither so quick nor so unanimous as imagined even by many historians. In closing I offer brief reflections on how best to explain the general drift toward Lavoisier's theory that did take place.
This paper is included in the Special Publication entitled 'Lyell: the past is the key to the present', edited by D.J. Blundell and A.C. Scott. On his travels in both Britain and North America Sir Charles Lyell paid particular attention to coalfields and their fossils. Understanding the formation of coal and associated rocks was the subject of several publications. In this contribution three aspects of this work are highlighted, all of which are the subject of ongoing modern research. Lyell was interested in modern analogues, for the Carboniferous coal swamps and was amongst the first to suggest analogies with the mires of the eastern United States, such as the Dismal Swamps. A brief review of recent research on new modern analogues from Southeast Asia is presented. Lyell observed 'mineral charcoal' in some of the coals and noted its anatomical structure. Considerable advances in our understanding of the role of fires in terrestrial ecosystems and their potential as an agent of fossil preservation are addressed. One of Lyell's most important palaeontological finds was of remains of the earliest reptiles (these proved to be amphibians but Sir William Dawson found reptiles subsequently) preserved in the Upper Carboniferous tree trunks at Joggins, Nova Scotia, Canada. Whilst this occurrence of reptiles is no longer the oldest, the reasons for the remarkable tetrapod occurrences in upright sandstone-filled lycophyte trees at Joggins are currently being investigated and recent progress is presented.
The renowned English chemist and meteorologist John Dalton (1766–1844) published A New System of Chemical Philosophy in two volumes, between 1808 and 1827. Dalton's discovery of the importance of the relative weight and structure of particles of a compound for explaining chemical reactions transformed atomic theory and laid the basis for much of what is modern chemistry. Volume 2 was published in 1827. It contains sections examining the weights and structures of two-element compounds in five different groups: metallic oxides; earthly, alkaline and metallic sulphurets; earthly, alkaline and metallic phosphurets; carburet; and metallic alloys. An appendix contains a selection of brief notes and tables, including a new table of the relative weights of atoms. A planned second part was never published. Dalton's work is a monument of nineteenth-century chemistry. It will continue to be read and enjoyed by anybody interested in the history and development of science.
James Hutton addressed coal in several publications relating to geology, combustion and theories of matter. As a common theme, coal shows how one can unify Hutton's thinking in these various contexts. Coal was important as a critical example in arguing for heat in geological processes, as a geological agent itself and as an example for understanding light, heat and fire. in all cases, Hutton focuses on understanding the natural economy and what fuels it. Hutton's views on coal thereby suggest considering more deeply his works on phlogiston and the solar substance.
The carbonate-silicate geochemical cycle of Berner et al. (1983) is extended to include reactions involving organic carbon and sulfur. Affirms the link between CO2, paleoclimate, and tectonism. -from Authors
This article provides a brief historical perspective on the first scientific research on the greenhouse effect and glaciations. While these two aspects of our climate can be investigated separately, naturalists, physicists and chemists during the 19th century were interested jointly in both issues, as well as the possible relationship between them. The contributions of famous pioneers are mentioned, ranging from scholars with encyclopaedic knowledge such as Horace–Bénédict de Saussure, to modern scientists like Svante Arrhenius, who was first to predict global warming as a consequence of using fossil fuels. Despite fragmentary observations, these pioneers had prophetic insights. Indeed, the main fundamental concepts used nowadays have been developed during the 19th century. However, we must wait until the second half of the 20th century to see a true revolution of investigative techniques in the Earth Sciences, enabling full access to previously unknown components of the climate system, such as deep oceans and the interior of the polar ice caps. To cite this article: E. Bard, C. R. Geoscience 336 (2004).
The metamorphism of siliceous dolomitic limestone is considered with the aid of a composition tetrahedron which suggests that the changes may be referred to thirteen steps or grades of increasing decarbonation, taking place at successively higher temperatures at any given pressure. At the temperature appropriate to each step a certain phase assemblage becomes unstable and each step is characterized by the disappearance of its appropriate phase assemblage. The survival of that phase assemblage in a rock is rigorously indicative of the fact that the step in question has not been attained. In most of the steps, to wit ten, the disappearance of its phase assemblage is accompanied by a more conspicuous phenomenon, the appearance of a new phase, a meta-morphic mineral, but this appearance of a new phase cannot be regarded as rigorously indicative of the accomplishment of the step since the new phase can be produced otherwise. Nevertheless, if certain additional conditions are fulfilled, the new phase will appear only when the temperature of the appropriate step is attained and the metamorphic minerals then become indicators of grade of metamorphism. In the order of the rising temperature steps at which they are produced the ten minerals are tremolite, forsterite, diopside, periclase, wollastonite, monticellite, akermanite, spurrite, merwinite, and larnite. Examination of their natural occurrence suggests that they are for the most part produced under conditions which permit their use as temperature indicators.
In the Bakerian Lecture which I had the honour of presenting to the Royal Society last year, I described a number of decompositions and chemical changes produced in substances of known composition by electricity, and I ventured to conclude from the general principles on which the phenomena were capable of being explained, that the new methods of investigation promised to lead to a more intimate knowledge than had hitherto been obtained, concerning the true elements of bodies. This conjecture, then sanctioned only by strong analogies, I am now happy to be able to support by some conclusive facts. In the course of a laborious experimental application of the powers of electro-chemical analysis, to bodies which have appeared simple when examined by common chemical agents, or which at least have never been decomposed, it has been my good fortune to obtain new and singular results.
The carbon cycle model GEOCARBSULF is extended by dividing the weathering of silicates into volcanic and non-volcanic rocks. The proportion of volcanic weathering is calculated as a function of time from the oceanic record of 87Sr/86Sr. The volcanic proportion is then used to modify the equations for calculating atmospheric CO2 by the addition of a new non-dimensional volcanic weathering factor. The effect of uplift and physical erosion on weathering is also modified by using only the distribution over time of the abundance of sandstones and shales, and not Sr isotopic data that had been used previously. Results indicate moderate change from GEOCARBSULF in the distribution of atmospheric CO2 over Phanerozoic time. This includes an increased minimum in CO2 during the Late Ordovician, in agreement with the presence of a continental glaciation at that time, and a shift of maximum Mesozoic values from the Jurassic to the Early Cretaceous.
The distributions and abundances of alteration types and carbonate minerals in sections of upper ocean crust have been measured in order to determine the carbon budget in altered ocean crust. Our results show that the ocean crust is a sink for carbon, with an annual storage rate of 3.4 × 1012 mol C y−1, in close agreement with a previous estimate by Staudigel et al. (1989). This surpasses the total production rate of carbon in new oceanic crust and, besides accounting for uptake of all CO2 lost via degassing at MOR, results in a net sink in the oceanic crust of 1.5–2.4 × 1012 mol C y−1. This sink is significant for global carbon budgets, and subduction of altered ocean crust may be an important source of CO2 to the atmosphere and/or recycling into the mantle. The bulk CO2 content of the crust decreases with depth, with most of the carbon taken up in the permeable upper few hundred meters of the volcanic section at low temperatures (0–60°C) during aging of crust away from spreading ridges. The abundances of carbonate veins and the bulk CO2 contents of the upper crust are greater in older (110–165 Ma) than younger (6Ma) crust, suggesting progressive uptake of carbon by the upper ocean crust. Precipitation of carbonates within the crust is essentially complete within 100 Ma, and perhaps as soon as a few tens of million years after formation of the crust.
The interplay between observation, theory and experiment focused on the birth of geology as a science, during the period of the Scottish Enlightenment. The fires of Hutton's (1726-1797) Plutonists could not be quenched by the oceans of Werner's (1750-1817) Neptunists. Hall (1761-1832) was convinced that Hutton's "Theory of the Earth" could be proved by experiments, but he deferred to the fears of his older colleague that failed experiments might discredit the Theory (which needed no further proof), and completed the experiments only after Hutton's death. Hutton censured those who "judge of the great operations of the mineral kingdom, from having kindled a fire, and looked into the bottom of a little crucible." Hall believed that "the imitation of the natural process is an object which may be pursued with rational expectation of success." Following many discussions between Hutton and Hall, three topics were pursued in Hall's experiments: 1790, the magmatic origin of granites, younger than schists; 1798, whinstones/dolerites are as magmatic as known lavas; 1805, powdered calcite is transformed to marble and melted by the effects of compression (and water) in modifying the action of heat. The latter involved the first high-pressure, high-temperature apparatus and earned Hall the title "Father of Experimental Petrology". Subsequent development of these three topics is outlined, with particular reference to Scottish contributions, and to debates about primary basalts, granitization, and carbonatites.
How carbon was incorporated into the Earth and evolved to its present
concentration in the modern mantle was the focus of the special session,
The Carbon Geodynamic Cycle, convened at the 1990 Spring AGU Meeting in
Baltimore, Md. Thirteen talks in the session covered a wide range of
topics that included terrestrial accretion of carbon, carbon-isotopic
composition of diamonds, magma degassing and the relationship of
carbonate sedimentation to the global carbon cycle.
The systematic use of coupled isotopic tracers has improved our understanding of many problems such as the geochemical structure and evolution of the mantle. However, some fundamental questions remain1–6; for example, does sediment injection occur in the mantle4,5,7, modifying composition and combining the internal and external geochemical cycles? Recently 3He data from the South Atlantic have been used to suggest that the sediment injection phenomenon may be important on a local scale8. Here, using carbon data only, we show that sediment injection in the mantle must occur. This conclusion was reached after comparison between the integrated flux coming from the mantle and the budget of the exogeneous reservoir of carbon.
The past variations of the seawater 87Sr86Sr isotopic ratio are related to changes in the relative contribution of the mantle Sr input to the ocean and the Sr supply from continental weathering. Recently, it has been postulated that the Cenozoic increase in the seawater 87Sr86Sr isotopic ratio was associated with the uplift of the Himalayan and Andean mountains at that time. These orogenies may have changed the Sr isotopic ratio of the continental rocks undergoing weathering (as a result of extensive metamorphism), increased the river flux of Sr through enhanced weathering in these regions and possibly caused the global climatic cooling trend of the Cenozoic. A model of the major geochemical cycles coupled to an energy balance climate model is used to explore the possible causes of the Mesozoic-Cenozoic fluctuations in the seawater 87Sr86Sr isotopic ratio. The contribution of the mantle exchanges at mid-ocean ridges, of the recycling of seafloor carbonates through plate margin volcanism and of the alteration of seafloor basalts to the fluctuations of the seawater 87Sr86Sr isotopic ratio are studied. Finally, this model tentatively describes the impact of the Himalayan orogeny on the geochemical cycles of Sr and C. Some possible effects of the extensive metamorphism associated with the India-Asia collision and of the Himalayan uplift are modelled. The model reproduces the Cenozoic increase of the seawater 87Sr86Sr isotopic ratio. However, the impact of the Himalayan orogeny on the C cycle appears to be limited and insufficient to generate the global climatic cooling of the Cenozoic. Rather, in the model, the Cenozoic cooling is mostly due to the reduction of the CO2 emission from mid-ocean ridge volcanism and to changes in the chemical weathering rates in the rest of the world excluding the Himalayas.
A computer model has been constructed that considers the effects on the CO/sub 2/ level of the atmosphere, and the Ca, Mg, and HCO/sub 3/ levels of the ocean, of the following processes: weathering on the continents of calcite, dolomite, and calcium-and-magnesium-containing silicates; biogenic precipitation and removal of CaCO/sub 3/ from the ocean; removal of Mg from the ocean via volcanic-seawater reaction; and the metamorphic-magmatic decarbonation of calcite and dolomite (and resulting CO/sub 2/ degassing) as a consequence of plate subduction. Assuming steady state, values for fluxes to and from the atmosphere and oceans are first derived for the modern ocean-atmosphere system. Then the consequences of perturbing steady state are examined by deriving rate expressions for all transfer reactions. These rate expressions are constructed so as to reflect changes over the past 100 my. Results indicate that the CO/sub 2/ content of the atmosphere is highly sensitive to changes in seafloor spreading rate and continental land area, and, to a much lesser extent, to changes in the relative masses of calcite and dolomite. Consideration of a number of alternative seafloor spreading rate formulations shows that in all cases a several-fold higher CO/sub 2/ level for the Cretaceous atmosphere (65-100 my BP) is obtained via the model. Assuming that CO/sub 2/ level and surface air temperature are positively correlated via an atmospheric greenhouse model, they authors predict Cretaceous paleotemperatures which are in rough general agreement with independent published data. Consequently, their results point to plate tectonics, as it affects both metamorphic-magmatic decarbonation and changes in continental land area, as a major control of world climate.
The long-term carbon cycle operates over millions of years and involves the exchange of carbon between rocks and the Earth's surface. There are many complex feedback pathways between carbon burial, nutrient cycling, atmospheric carbon dioxide and oxygen, and climate. New calculations of carbon fluxes during the Phanerozoic eon (the past 550 million years) illustrate how the long-term carbon cycle has affected the burial of organic matter and fossil-fuel formation, as well as the evolution of atmospheric composition.
Reimpresión en 1960, 1972
Extrait des Oeuvres de Lavoisier