Knowra Carbonate–silicate cycle Carbonate–silicate cycle The carbonate–silicate cycle is a long-term geological feedback that transfers carbon between the atmosphere, oceans, rocks, and mantle. Weathering removes atmospheric carbon dioxide, while volcanic degassing returns it.
Silicate weathering : Chemical reactions between silicate minerals, water, and carbon dioxide that produce dissolved ions and bicarbonate. It consumes atmospheric carbon dioxide and supplies dissolved material that can become carbonate rock.
Climate sensitivity : The change in Earth's average temperature caused by a specified change in radiative forcing or atmospheric carbon dioxide. The cycle's feedbacks influence how temperature responds to persistent carbon dioxide changes.
Carbon cycle : The movement of carbon among Earth's atmosphere, oceans, living organisms, soils, and rocks. The carbonate–silicate cycle is its slow geological component.
Uplift–weathering hypothesis : The hypothesis that mountain building accelerates silicate weathering and thereby lowers atmospheric carbon dioxide. It proposes a tectonic control on the cycle, though the strength and generality of that control remain debated.
Carbonate precipitation : The formation of solid carbonate minerals from dissolved ions in water. Marine organisms and inorganic reactions turn weathering products into carbonate sediments.
Geologic carbon sink : Long-term storage of carbon in Earth's crust and mantle through geological processes. Carbonate burial is one pathway by which the cycle stores carbon for millions of years.
Chemical weathering : The breakdown or alteration of minerals through chemical reactions with water, gases, or dissolved substances. Silicate weathering is a specific form of chemical weathering.
Basalt weathering : The chemical alteration of basalt by water and carbon dioxide, which can consume carbon dioxide and form carbonate minerals. Its potentially rapid rates raise questions about how strongly rock type shapes the cycle's climate feedback.
Carbonate sedimentation : The accumulation and burial of carbonate-rich particles on the seafloor. Burial stores carbon in rock, removing it from rapid exchange with the atmosphere.
Snowball Earth : A hypothesized state in which ice covered nearly the entire Earth during severe global glaciations. Reduced weathering during global glaciation can weaken carbon dioxide removal and contribute to deglaciation.
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