Ca. CO 3 is taken up by marine organisms Coccolithophorid Foraminifer
. . . as is Si. O 2 Diatom (Si. O 2) (50 microns) Radiolarian (Si. O 2) (50 microns)
Destination of atmospheric CO 2 Carbon reservoirs today
Inorganic carbon cycle Carbon ends up here
Volcanic eruptions main source of CO 2
BLAG model – spreading rates sometimes fast, sometimes slow
Pre-Quaternary atmospheric CO 2 levels cannot yet be directly determined. Can be modeled from the carbon isotope record? BLAG (Berner, Lasaga, Garrels) Model Steady-State Flux Balance Equation Fwc +Fmc + Fwg = Fbc + Fbg w: weathering m: metamorphism b: burial c: carbonate g: organic
Climate through Earth history
Cenozoic cooling
Spreading rates have decreased over last 65 million years
Silicate rock weathering
Weathering rates increase over Cenozoic • Does the amount of high elevation terrain result in unusual physical weathering? • Most likely given 10 fold increase of sediment to the Indian Ocean – Steep terrain along southern Himalayan margin – Presence of powerful South Asian monsoon
Tibetan plateau
Changes in amount of uplift of continental rock could regulate amount of weathering “Uplift weathering hypothesis” Uplift mainly when continents collide