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The carbon cycle is the biogeochemical cycle focused on carbon and how it is sequestered in and moves between different reservoirs in the Earth system.
Contrary to current model predictions, this study shows that rapid permafrost thaw in well drained uplands leads to exceedingly high methane emissions ( ~ 10-60 times higher than expected) from deeply-thawed yedoma soils, particularly in winter.
The future of the land carbon sink depends on the temperature response of ecosystem respiration. This Review explores observational and experimental evidence for a unimodal temperature response of respiration and the implications for carbon sequestration predictions.
New study shows forests with ectomycorrhizal strategies accumulate more carbon stocks than forests dominated by arbuscular mycorrhizal or mixed mycorrhizal strategies in high-latitude.
Dynamic ocean feedbacks between biological activity, chelating ligand levels, and dissolved iron availability may reverse carbon uptake or outgassing in response to changes in meridional overturning circulation, fundamentally impacting climate.
This study has revealed a widespread yet previously undiscovered link between oxygenic photosynthesis and methanogenesis and will advance our understanding of the ecological role of photosynthetic bacteria in the global CH4 cycle.
Not accounting for coupled land–water carbon fluxes can lead to flawed understanding and incorrect assessments of climate impact and feedback on the Arctic carbon cycle. There is a need for collaborative studies, between scientific disciplines and approaches, that integrate carbon transformations and fluxes across the Arctic land–water continuum.
There are no good models for the chemical evolution of the Earth’s surface over the planet’s lifetime, because models typically overlook the progressive build-up of carbonate rocks in the crust. A new model that includes this accumulation enables the reconstruction of major oxygen and temperature trends throughout Earth’s history.
The carbon emissions of large igneous province magmatism are commonly associated with severe environmental crises. We developed a technique that used sedimentary mercury records to estimate these carbon fluxes through time and found that they are smaller and/or slower than assumed, which suggests that the influence of carbon-cycle feedback processes is underestimated in current models.
Canal networks in Southeast Asian peatlands are zones of rapid, light-driven biogeochemical cycling. The canals increase carbon dioxide emissions to the atmosphere and decrease organic carbon export to the ocean.
An integrated model of mineral weathering and carbon cycling reveals the substantial influence that clay minerals originating from the weathering of magnesium-rich rocks have on Earth’s climate. This research indicates that this clay-forming process contributed to each Palaeozoic glaciation.