Carbon dioxide emissions by rock organic carbon oxidation and the net geochemical carbon budget of the Mackenzie River Basin ...

© 2019 American Journal of Science. All rights reserved. The exposure of organic carbon in rocks to oxidative weathering can release carbon dioxide (CO2) to the atmosphere and consume atmospheric oxygen. Alongside volcanism, metamorphism, and the weathering of carbonate minerals by sulfuric acid, th...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Horan, K, Hilton, RG, Dellinger, M, Tipper, E, Galy, V, Calmels, D, Selby, D, Gaillardet, J, Ottley, CJ, Parsons, DR, Burton, KW
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: American Journal of Science (AJS) 2019
Subjects:
erosion and weathering
carbon cycle
Mackenzie River
petrogenic organic carbon
rhenium
Arctic
Canada
Liard
Mackenzie river
Online Access:https://dx.doi.org/10.17863/cam.62287
https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/315179
Description
Summary:© 2019 American Journal of Science. All rights reserved. The exposure of organic carbon in rocks to oxidative weathering can release carbon dioxide (CO2) to the atmosphere and consume atmospheric oxygen. Alongside volcanism, metamorphism, and the weathering of carbonate minerals by sulfuric acid, this is a major source of atmospheric CO2 over million year timescales. The balance between CO2 release and CO2 drawdown by silicate weathering and organic carbon burial sets the net geochemical carbon budget during weathering and erosion. However, the rates of rock-derived organic carbon (petrogenic organic carbon, OCpetro) oxidation remain poorly constrained. Here, we use rhenium as a proxy to trace and quantify CO2 release by OCpetro oxidation in the Mackenzie River Basin, Canada, where the other carbon fluxes have been well constrained previously. River water and sediment samples were collected between 2009 and 2013 at gauging stations along the Mackenzie River and its main tributaries (Liard, Peel and Arctic ...

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