Carbon Emissions Through the Weathering of Petrogenic Organic Carbon and the Net Geological Carbon Budget of the Tibetan Plateau

Abstract Mountain building, alongside the associated erosion and weathering, plays a key role in mediating the long‐term carbon cycle, thus impacting Earth’s climate. Certain processes, such as the weathering of petrogenic organic carbon (OCpetro), still lack comprehensive quantitative research owin...

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Main Authors: Ye Wang, Yang Chen, Shilei Li, David William Hedding, Jun Chen
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2025-02-01
Series:Geophysical Research Letters
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1029/2024GL110718
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author Ye Wang
Yang Chen
Shilei Li
David William Hedding
Jun Chen
author_facet Ye Wang
Yang Chen
Shilei Li
David William Hedding
Jun Chen
author_sort Ye Wang
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Mountain building, alongside the associated erosion and weathering, plays a key role in mediating the long‐term carbon cycle, thus impacting Earth’s climate. Certain processes, such as the weathering of petrogenic organic carbon (OCpetro), still lack comprehensive quantitative research owing to the interference of human activities, hindering a full understanding of the net budget and temporal changes of mountain building. This study explores OCpetro weathering within the Tibetan Plateau by utilizing rhenium as a tracer to quantify OCpetro weathering rates and elucidate carbon fluxes. The overall OCpetro weathering rate and net carbon budget of the Tibetan Plateau are 1.95(±0.60) tC km−2 yr−1 and 1.81+0.34/−0.49 tC km−2 yr−1, indicating the Tibetan Plateau currently serves as a carbon source. This study not only refines our understanding of the OCpetro weathering but also reveals a dynamic transformational impact on the geological carbon cycle from mountain building at different stages.
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publishDate 2025-02-01
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series Geophysical Research Letters
spelling doaj-art-afd771ee8dc041e4b633d1efb69b39dd2025-08-20T03:49:31ZengWileyGeophysical Research Letters0094-82761944-80072025-02-01524n/an/a10.1029/2024GL110718Carbon Emissions Through the Weathering of Petrogenic Organic Carbon and the Net Geological Carbon Budget of the Tibetan PlateauYe Wang0Yang Chen1Shilei Li2David William Hedding3Jun Chen4MOE Key Laboratory of Surficial Geochemistry School of Earth Sciences and Engineering, and Frontier Science Center for Critical Earth Material Cycle Nanjing University Nanjing ChinaMOE Key Laboratory of Surficial Geochemistry School of Earth Sciences and Engineering, and Frontier Science Center for Critical Earth Material Cycle Nanjing University Nanjing ChinaMOE Key Laboratory of Surficial Geochemistry School of Earth Sciences and Engineering, and Frontier Science Center for Critical Earth Material Cycle Nanjing University Nanjing ChinaDepartment of Geography University of South Africa Florida South AfricaMOE Key Laboratory of Surficial Geochemistry School of Earth Sciences and Engineering, and Frontier Science Center for Critical Earth Material Cycle Nanjing University Nanjing ChinaAbstract Mountain building, alongside the associated erosion and weathering, plays a key role in mediating the long‐term carbon cycle, thus impacting Earth’s climate. Certain processes, such as the weathering of petrogenic organic carbon (OCpetro), still lack comprehensive quantitative research owing to the interference of human activities, hindering a full understanding of the net budget and temporal changes of mountain building. This study explores OCpetro weathering within the Tibetan Plateau by utilizing rhenium as a tracer to quantify OCpetro weathering rates and elucidate carbon fluxes. The overall OCpetro weathering rate and net carbon budget of the Tibetan Plateau are 1.95(±0.60) tC km−2 yr−1 and 1.81+0.34/−0.49 tC km−2 yr−1, indicating the Tibetan Plateau currently serves as a carbon source. This study not only refines our understanding of the OCpetro weathering but also reveals a dynamic transformational impact on the geological carbon cycle from mountain building at different stages.https://doi.org/10.1029/2024GL110718chemical weatheringgeological carbon cyclerhenium geochemistrypetrogenic organic carbon weatheringmountain building
spellingShingle Ye Wang
Yang Chen
Shilei Li
David William Hedding
Jun Chen
Carbon Emissions Through the Weathering of Petrogenic Organic Carbon and the Net Geological Carbon Budget of the Tibetan Plateau
Geophysical Research Letters
chemical weathering
geological carbon cycle
rhenium geochemistry
petrogenic organic carbon weathering
mountain building
title Carbon Emissions Through the Weathering of Petrogenic Organic Carbon and the Net Geological Carbon Budget of the Tibetan Plateau
title_full Carbon Emissions Through the Weathering of Petrogenic Organic Carbon and the Net Geological Carbon Budget of the Tibetan Plateau
title_fullStr Carbon Emissions Through the Weathering of Petrogenic Organic Carbon and the Net Geological Carbon Budget of the Tibetan Plateau
title_full_unstemmed Carbon Emissions Through the Weathering of Petrogenic Organic Carbon and the Net Geological Carbon Budget of the Tibetan Plateau
title_short Carbon Emissions Through the Weathering of Petrogenic Organic Carbon and the Net Geological Carbon Budget of the Tibetan Plateau
title_sort carbon emissions through the weathering of petrogenic organic carbon and the net geological carbon budget of the tibetan plateau
topic chemical weathering
geological carbon cycle
rhenium geochemistry
petrogenic organic carbon weathering
mountain building
url https://doi.org/10.1029/2024GL110718
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AT shileili carbonemissionsthroughtheweatheringofpetrogenicorganiccarbonandthenetgeologicalcarbonbudgetofthetibetanplateau
AT davidwilliamhedding carbonemissionsthroughtheweatheringofpetrogenicorganiccarbonandthenetgeologicalcarbonbudgetofthetibetanplateau
AT junchen carbonemissionsthroughtheweatheringofpetrogenicorganiccarbonandthenetgeologicalcarbonbudgetofthetibetanplateau