Carbon cycle implications of terrestrial weathering changes since the last glacial maximum

• Published in: FACETS
• Main Authors: Brault, M.-O., Mysak, L.A., Matthews, H.D.
• Other Authors: Al, Tom A.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Canadian Science Publishing 2017
• Subjects: Multidisciplinary; ice core
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/facets-2016-0040; http://www.facetsjournal.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/facets-2016-0040

We examine the importance of the rock weathering feedback mechanism during the last deglacial period (∼16 000–4000 BCE) using an Earth system model of intermediate complexity (the University of Victoria Earth System Climate Model (UVic ESCM)) with four box-model parameterizations of terrestrial weathering. The deglacial climate change is driven by changes in orbital parameters, ice core reconstructions of atmospheric CO 2 variability, and prescribed removal of continental ice sheets. Over the course of the 12 000 year simulation period, increases in weathering provide a mechanism that slowly removes CO 2 from the atmosphere, in opposition to the observed atmospheric CO 2 increase during this period. These processes transfer both carbon and alkalinity to the ocean, the combination of which results in as much as a 1000 Pg C increase in total ocean carbon, relative to a control simulation with constant weathering. However, the rapid expansion of northern hemisphere vegetation introduces a significant uncertainty among the weathering parameterizations. Further experiments to test the individual impacts of weathering dissolved inorganic carbon and alkalinity fluxes on ocean biogeochemistry suggest that the worldwide distribution of rock types and the ratio of carbonate to silicate weathering may be crucially important in obtaining an accurate estimate of changes in global weathering rates.