Coupled modeling of global carbon cycle and climate in the Neoproterozoic: links between Rodinia breakup and major glaciations Modélisation couplée du cycle du carbone et du climat au Néoprotérozoïque : liens entre la dislocation du supercontinent Rodinia et les glaciations majeures

• Published in: Comptes Rendus Geoscience
• Main Authors: Goddéris, Yves, Donnadieu, Yannick, Dessert, Céline, Dupré, Bernard, Fluteau, Frédéric, M. François, Louis, Meert, Joseph, Nédélec, Anne, Ramstein, Gilles
• Other Authors: Laboratoire des Mécanismes et Transfert en Géologie (LMTG), Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier (UT3), Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Observatoire Midi-Pyrénées (OMP), Météo France-Centre National d'Études Spatiales Toulouse (CNES)-Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Météo France-Centre National d'Études Spatiales Toulouse (CNES)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement Gif-sur-Yvette (LSCE), Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Paris-Saclay-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ), Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris (IPGP), Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-IPG PARIS-Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7 (UPD7)-Université de La Réunion (UR)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Modélisation du climat (CLIM), Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Paris-Saclay-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Paris-Saclay-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2007
• Subjects: Numerical modeling; Carbon cycle; Climates; Neoproterozoic; Rodinia carbon Modélisation numérique; Cycle du carbone; Néoprotérozoïque; Rodinia; [SDU.STU.PG]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences/Paleontology; South Pole; South pole
• Online Access: https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00311340; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.crte.2005.12.002

International audience A coupled climate–geochemical model of new generation (GEOCLIM) is used to investigate the possible causes of the initiation of snowball glaciations during Neoproterozoic times. This model allows the calculation of the partial pressure of atmospheric CO2 simultaneously with the climate at the continental surface with a rough 2D spatial resolution (10° lat. × 50° long.). We calculate that the breakup of the Rodinia supercontinent, starting 800 Myr ago, results in a global climatic cooling of about 8 °C triggered by enhanced consumption of atmospheric CO2 resulting from increased runoff over continental surfaces. This increase in runoff is driven by the opening of oceanic basins resulting in an increase of soil moisture sources close to continental masses. This climatic effect of the supercontinent breakup is particularly strong within the 800–700 Ma interval since all continents are located in the equatorial area, where temperature and runoff conditions optimize the consumption of CO2 through weathering processes. However, this effect alone is insufficient to trigger snowball. We propose that the efficient weathering of fresh basaltic surfaces that erupted during the Rodinia breakup, and were transported to the humid equatorial area through continental plate motion, contributed the necessary CO2 sink that triggered the ca. 730-Ma Sturtian glacial event. Simulations of the GEOCLIM model for the ca 580-Ma Gaskiers ice age, where all continents are centered on the South Pole, shows that no snowball glaciation can be initiated. The calculated CO2 partial pressure remains above 1000 ppmv, while a threshold of less than 80 ppmv is required to initiate a snowball glaciation. At that time, a polar configuration does not allow the onset of total glaciation. Nevertheless, a regional glaciation is simulated by the GEOCLIM when the climatic and geochemical (i.e. weathering related) effects of the Pan-African orogeny (not, vert, similar600 Ma) are taken into account. Finally, the question of the role ...