Erosion-driven drawdown of atmospheric carbon dioxide: The organic pathway
Resource
Applied Geochemistry, 26, S285-S287
Journal
Applied Geochemistry
Pages
S285-S287
Date Issued
2011
Date
2011
Author(s)
Hovius, Niels
Galy, Albert
Hilton, Robert G.
Sparkes, Robert
Smith, Joanne
Shuh-Ji, Kao
In-Tian, Lin
West, A.Joshua
Abstract
Rapidly eroding, coastal mountain belts, where steep rivers and submarine channels connect upland sources to nearby marine sinks are hotspots of organic carbon transfer from life biomass, soil and exhumed bedrock into geological storage. Using observations from the Southern Alps of New Zealand, and Taiwan, we have mapped this organic pathway to geological carbon sequestration, and can evaluate the magnitude and efficiency of transfers between sources and sinks. We demonstrate that POC is harvested by landsliding, but importantly also by common and widespread surface runoff on steep hillslopes. Although terrestrially sourced POC is found in many sedimentary environments associated with mountain belts and frontier basins, it appears to be most abundantly trapped and preserved in marine turbidites. The loss of all forms of POC in onward transport through short, steep routing systems to this repository is limited. This is in marked contrast to larger routing systems, in which only the most resilient forms of POC survive into long-term deposition. © 2011 Elsevier Ltd.
SDGs
Other Subjects
Atmospheric carbon dioxide; Carbon sequestration; Carbon transfer; Geological storage; Hillslopes; Hotspots; Landsliding; Mountain belts; New zealand; Routing system; Sedimentary environment; Submarine channel; Surface runoffs; Atmospheric chemistry; Carbon dioxide; Landforms; Organic carbon; bedrock; belt; biomass; carbon dioxide; carbon sequestration; coastal zone; erosion; hillslope; landslide; magnitude; observational method; particulate organic carbon; runoff; sediment analysis; submarine; turbidity; Alps; New Zealand; Taiwan
Type
journal article
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