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Cited by 306Paleontology and Stratigraphy of FossilsGeology and Paleoclimatology ResearchGeochemistry and Elemental Analysis

Reverse weathering as a long-term stabilizer of marine pH and planetary climate

Isson, Terry T., Planavsky, Noah J.·2018·Nature
DOI 10.1038/s41586-018-0408-4
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Abstract

For the first four billion years of Earth's history, climate was marked by apparent stability and warmth despite the Sun having lower luminosity 1. Proposed mechanisms for maintaining an elevated partial pressure of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere ([Formula: see text]) centre on a reduction in the weatherability of Earth's crust and therefore in the efficiency of carbon dioxide removal from the atmosphere 2. However, the effectiveness of these mechanisms remains debated 2,3. Here we use a global carbon cycle model to explore the evolution of processes that govern marine pH, a factor that regulates the partitioning of carbon between the ocean and the atmosphere. We find that elevated rates of 'reverse weathering'-that is, the consumption of alkalinity and generation of acidity during marine authigenic clay formation 4-7-enhanced the retention of carbon within the ocean-atmosphere system, leading to an elevated [Formula: see text] baseline. Although this process is dampened by sluggish kinetics today, we propose that more prolific rates of reverse weathering would have persisted under the pervasively silica-rich conditions 8,9 that dominated Earth's early oceans. This distinct ocean and coupled carbon-silicon cycle state would have successfully maintained the equable and ice-free environment that characterized most of the Precambrian period. Further, we propose that during this time, the establishment of a strong negative feedback between marine pH and authigenic clay formation would have also enhanced climate stability by mitigating large swings in [Formula: see text]-a critical component of Earth's natural thermostat that would have been dominant for most of Earth's history. We speculate that the late ecological rise of siliceous organisms 8 and a resulting decline in silica-rich conditions dampened the reverse weathering buffer, destabilizing Earth's climate system and lowering baseline [Formula: see text].

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  • Estimates of today's reverse weathering flux vary an order of magnitude.

    “Estimates of today’s RW flux (mol Si/year) vary an order of magnitude (177, 178), the rate coefficient for RW reactions varies by many orders of magnitude (179, 180), and the solubility of authigenic phyllosilicates (needed to calculate RW) varies by over an order of magnitude.”

    From The Archean atmosphere (2020) · cites this paper as [177]

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Authors
Isson, T. T., & Planavsky, N. J.
Affiliations
Yale University (US)
ORCID
Venue
Nature
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Published
2018-08
Volume
560
Issue
7719
Pages
471-475
ISSN
  • 0028-0836 (ISSN-L)
  • 1476-4687
DOI
10.1038/s41586-018-0408-4
OpenAlex
W2886488573
Cited by
306
References
118
Citations by year
2026: 26 · 2025: 65 · 2024: 57 · 2023: 37 · 2022: 38 · 2021: 29 · 2020: 31 · 2019: 23
FWCI
15.24
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Licence
www.springer.com/tdm (tdm)
Locations
  • Nature (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NNA15BB03A)
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Paleontology › Paleontology and Stratigraphy of Fossils
  • Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Atmospheric Science › Geology and Paleoclimatology Research
  • Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Geochemistry and Petrology › Geochemistry and Elemental Analysis
Keywords
reverse weathering, early Earth climate, silicate weathering
MeSH terms
Atmosphere, Carbon Dioxide, Climate, Hydrogen-Ion Concentration, Methane, Oceans and Seas, Partial Pressure, Seawater, Silicon Dioxide, Geologic Sediments, Carbon Cycle

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