We now have a good understanding of surface carbon reservoirs and the flow between them, but we do not know about the Earth’s internal carbon stores that have been recycling carbon for millions of years.

A team of researchers from the University of Cambridge and the Nanyang Technological University in Singapore (NTU Singapore) has found that the Earth absorbs more carbon from the atmosphere than previously thought.

This finding may change some of the equations surrounding our predictions of climate change, but that does not mean we can breathe a sigh of relief about global warming.

.ظهرت New study On July 14, the journal Nature Communications reported that the slow collision of tectonic plates would absorb more carbon into the Earth’s interior.

Study results indicate that one-third of the carbon recycled under volcanic networks returns to the surface through recycling, and the tectonic plates collide and draw carbon into the Earth’s interior in subduction zones. The eruption is deeper than it appears in the form of a volcano;

Deep carbon cycle

The deep carbon cycle is the movement of carbon through the Earth’s atmosphere and core, which is closely related to the movement of carbon on Earth’s surface and in the atmosphere.

Without reaching the depths of the earth, carbon accumulates in the atmosphere and reaches very high concentrations over a long period of time, and through the process of bringing carbon back to the depths of the earth, it plays an important role in maintaining the required groundwater. For the survival of life.

Studies of the formation of basaltic magma and the flow of volcanic carbon dioxide show that the carbon content of the mantle (a layer inside a planetary body surrounded by a core below it) is a thousand times higher than the carbon content of the Earth’s surface.

Some evidence from laboratory simulations of deep soil conditions points to a system in which elements move to the bottom, and technologies such as earthquakes have given people a deeper understanding of the carbon in the earth’s core.

Deep Carbon Stores Since most of the carbon on our planet is located, learning more about how these stores work and evolve will help us explore the indirect effects of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and the possibility of living safely on Earth.

Movement of oceanic plates carrying carbon compounds through the mantle (Erin Valdy-Wikimedia)

Important results

The research team conducted several experiments at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF), which was able to measure very low concentrations of these minerals at high pressure, and to accurately estimate the amount of elements in carbonate rocks. Chemistry.

The team members have been researching the use of carbon capture methods that transfer carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to storage in rocks and oceans, and carbonate rocks that are chemically similar to chalk are rich in calcium and magnesium as they travel deeper into the ocean.

This metabolism does not dissolve the carbonates, which means that they are not attracted to the liquids supplied by the volcanoes, but instead most of the carbonate sinks deeper into the mantle and eventually turns into diamonds.

Simon Redfern, co-author and dean of the Faculty of Science at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, said in a statement that the findings are important to understand the role of carbonate formation in our climate system in general. Press release According to the University of Cambridge, “our results show that these metals are very stable and can be separated from the atmosphere into solid metal forms (carbon dioxide), which can cause negative emissions.”

Solving climate crisis

“These findings will also help us understand the best ways to extract solid-earth carbon from the atmosphere,” Redfern commented. “If we can speed up this process more than nature can handle, we may find a way to help solve the climate crisis.”

In the same statement, Stephen Farzang, a prominent author and PhD student in the Department of Geology at the University of Cambridge, said: “We now have a relatively good understanding of surface carbon reservoirs and their flow. Earth’s internal carbon stores that have been recycling carbon for millions of years “.

“There is still a lot of research to be done in this area, and we aim to improve our estimates in the future by studying the solubility of carbonates over a wide range of temperatures, pressures, and many liquid compositions,” Farsang added.

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