Oxford Study Finds Organic Carbon Erosion Amplified 6-7C Jurassic Warming
Updated
Updated · Ars Technica · Jun 26
Oxford Study Finds Organic Carbon Erosion Amplified 6-7C Jurassic Warming
1 articles · Updated · Ars Technica · Jun 26
Summary
A Nature Communications study led by Oxford’s Madeleine Stow found that oxidation of organic carbon in eroding sediments intensified the Toarcian Ocean Anoxic Event about 183 million years ago.
The finding helps resolve a long-running question over erosion’s net climate effect: rock weathering removes CO2, but weathering of organic carbon can release it back into the atmosphere.
The Toarcian event was triggered by massive volcanism across what are now South Africa and Antarctica and drove roughly 6° to 7°C of global warming.
That warming reshaped plant and dinosaur communities on land and contributed to marine extinctions, including corals, offering a deep-time warning that the same feedback could also matter for modern climate change.
An ancient warming event was amplified by carbon from erosion. Is today's climate change awakening the same geological feedback loop?
Could thawing permafrost's weathering absorb more CO2 than its eroding soils release, becoming an unexpected climate ally?
Deep soils hold twice the atmosphere's carbon. Are climate models failing to account for this massive, warming-vulnerable source?
Rock Weathering as a Positive Climate Feedback: How Organic Carbon Weathering Releases 68 MtC/yr and Amplifies Global Warming
Overview
This report highlights a major shift in our understanding of rock weathering and its impact on Earth's climate. Traditionally, rock weathering was seen as a process that removes CO2 from the atmosphere and helps stabilize the climate over long timescales. However, a recent study led by Dr. Madeleine Stow reveals that the weathering of organic carbon-rich sedimentary rocks can actually release CO2, acting as a positive feedback that amplifies global warming. This new insight shows that rock weathering is not just a carbon sink, but can also be a source of atmospheric CO2, making its role in climate change more complex than previously thought.