Publication Date:
2022-05-25
Description:
Author Posting. © The Author(s), 2018. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here under a nonexclusive, irrevocable, paid-up, worldwide license granted to WHOI. It is made available for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Science 360 (2018): 209-212, doi:10.1126/science.aao6463.
Description:
Lithospheric organic carbon (“petrogenic”; OCpetro) is oxidized during exhumation and
subsequent erosion within mountain ranges. This process is a significant source of CO2 to the
atmosphere over geologic timescales, but the mechanisms that govern oxidation rates in
mountain landscapes remain poorly constrained. We demonstrate that, on average, 67 ± 11 % of
OCpetro initially present in bedrock exhumed from the tropical, rapidly eroding Central Range of
Taiwan is oxidized within soils, leading to CO2 emissions of 6.1 – 18.6 t C km-2 yr-1. The
molecular and isotopic evolution of bulk OC and lipid biomarkers during soil formation reveals
that OCpetro remineralization is microbially mediated. Rapid oxidation in mountain soils drives
CO2 emissions fluxes that increase with erosion rate, thereby counteracting CO2 drawdown by
silicate weathering and biospheric OC burial.
Description:
This research was supported by: the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Number
2012126152 and the WHOI Ocean Ventures Fund (J.D.H.); European Research Council Starting
Grant 678779 ROC-CO2 (R.G.H.); NSF grants OCE-0851015 and OCE-0928582 and WHOI
Independent Study Award 27005306 (V.V.G.).
Repository Name:
Woods Hole Open Access Server
Type:
Preprint
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