Microbial oxidation of lithospheric organic carbon in rapidly eroding tropical mountain soils
- Lithospheric organic carbon ("petrogenic"; OCpetro) is oxidized during exhumation and subsequent erosion of mountain ranges. This process is a considerable source of carbon dioxide (CO2) to the atmosphere over geologic time scales, but the mechanisms that govern oxidation rates in mountain landscapes are poorly constrained. We demonstrate that, on average, 67 +/- 11% of the OCpetro initially present in bedrock exhumed from the tropical, rapidly eroding Central Range of Taiwan is oxidized in soils, leading to CO2 emissions of 6.1 to 18.6 metric tons of carbon per square kilometer per year. The molecular and isotopic evolution of bulk OC and lipid biomarkers during soil formation reveals that OCpetro remineralization is microbially mediated. Rapid oxidation in mountain soils drives CO2 emission fluxes that increase with erosion rate, thereby counteracting CO2 drawdown by silicate weathering and biospheric OC burial.
Author details: | Jordon Dennis HemingwayORCiD, Robert G. HiltonORCiD, Niels HoviusORCiDGND, Timothy I. EglintonORCiD, Negar Haghipour, Lukas WackerORCiD, Meng-Chiang Chen, Valier V. GalyORCiD |
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DOI: | https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aao6463 |
ISSN: | 0036-8075 |
ISSN: | 1095-9203 |
Pubmed ID: | https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29650673 |
Title of parent work (English): | Science |
Publisher: | American Assoc. for the Advancement of Science |
Place of publishing: | Washington |
Publication type: | Article |
Language: | English |
Date of first publication: | 2018/04/13 |
Publication year: | 2018 |
Release date: | 2021/12/08 |
Volume: | 360 |
Issue: | 6385 |
Number of pages: | 4 |
First page: | 209 |
Last Page: | + |
Funding institution: | NSF Graduate Research FellowshipNational Science Foundation (NSF) [2012126152]; WHOI Ocean Ventures Fund; European Research CouncilEuropean Research Council (ERC) [678779 ROC-CO2]; NSFNational Science Foundation (NSF) [OCE-0851015, OCE-0928582]; WHOI Independent Study Award [27005306] |
Organizational units: | Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Fakultät / Institut für Geowissenschaften |
DDC classification: | 5 Naturwissenschaften und Mathematik / 55 Geowissenschaften, Geologie / 550 Geowissenschaften |
Peer review: | Referiert |
Institution name at the time of the publication: | Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Fakultät / Institut für Erd- und Umweltwissenschaften |
Publishing method: | Open Access / Bronze Open-Access |