Do Volcanoes Add More Carbon Than They Take Away?

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https://eos.org/research-spotlights/do-volcanoes-add-more-carbon-than-they-take-away

By Saima May Sidik, Eos/AGU. 

Excerpt: In a new study, Zhong et al. discovered that a volcano in northeast China emits a small net amount of carbon each year. Over geological timescales, that could have a significant impact on our planet’s carbon cycle. Volcanic areas continue to emit carbon dioxide long after eruptions are over. Conversely, atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) is constantly locked away into minerals on Earth’s surface through a process called silicate weathering. Whether volcanoes release more CO2 through degassing or capture more CO2 through silicate weathering is an open question. The authors of the new study investigated whether the Changbaishan volcanic area in northeast China is a net source or sink of atmospheric carbon. The region has been active for at least 2.7 million years, but it has not erupted since 1903, making the area a prime spot for analyzing long-term carbon leakage....

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