Historical constraints on the origins of the carbon cycle concept

• Published in: Comptes Rendus Geoscience
• Main Authors: Galvez, Matthieu Emmanuel, Gaillardet, Jérôme
• Other Authors: Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris (IPGP), Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7 (UPD7)-Université de La Réunion (UR)-Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris (IPG Paris)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2012
• Subjects: [SDU]Sciences of the Universe [physics]; Carbonic acid
• Online Access: https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-03583012; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.crte.2012.10.006

International audience Understanding the geological carbon cycle remains a major scientific challenge, although studies dedicated to this issue, in particular those of J.J. Ebelmen in the mid 19th century, have existed for over 200 years. The exact scientific and social pathways leading to the construction of the contemporaneous carbon cycle requires further investigation, which in turn may provide valuable insights into the modern state of scientific knowledge. The present study contributes to this question by demonstrating that, following the discovery of the compound nature of carbonic acid by A.L. Lavoisier at the end of the 18th century, studies initially investigated the mechanisms of respiration and photosynthesis until they were recognized as exerting an antagonistic effect on the composition of air. In the early 19th century, the consequence of these studies at the global scale had been foreseen, and applied to investigate the stability of the atmospheric composition over time. These early steps were only concerned with the fate of carbonic acid through life processes. However, between 1820 and 1840, the works of A.L. Brongniard and J.B. Boussingault established that geologic processes, such as the burial of carbonaceous material (CM) in sedimentary rocks and the release of CO 2 by volcanoes, affect the composition of the atmosphere. By 1845, J.J. Ebelmen had brilliantly contributed to the emerging question of atmospheric composition by proposing that the alteration of silicates on continents and the precipitation of carbonates in the ocean should be considered as a sink of atmospheric CO 2 . He also used chemical formula of the time to quantify this process, which led him to mention a carbon rotation for the first time. The rotation of this element through geologic processes became, in itself, a matter worthy of investigation as was the composition of the atmosphere. We argue that J.J. Ebelmen's brilliant synthesis was made possible by the parallel development of the atomistic model of matter in the ...