The carbon cycle and carbon dioxide over Phanerozoic time: the role of land plants

Abstract

A model (GEOCARB) of the long-term, or multimillion year, carbon cycle has been constructed which includes quantitative treatment of (1) uptake of atmospheric CO2 by the weathering of silicate and carbonate rocks on the continents, and the deposition of carbonate minerals and organic matter in oceanic sediments; and (2) the release of CO2 to the atmosphere via the weathering of kerogen in sedimentary rocks and degassing resulting from the volcanic-metamorphic-diagenetic breakdown of carbonates and organic matter at depth. Sensitivity analysis indicates that an important factor affecting CO2 was the rise of vascular plants in the Palaeozoic. A large Devonian drop in CO2 was brought about primarily by the acceleration of weathering of silicate rock by the development of deeply rooted plants in well-drained upland soils. The quantitative effect of this accelerated weathering has been crudely estimated by present-day field studies where all factors affecting weathering, other than the presence or absence of vascular plants, have been held relatively constant. An important additional factor, bringing about a further CO2 drop into the Carboniferous and Permian, was enhanced burial of organic matter in sediments, due probably to the production of microbially resistant plant remains (e.g. lignin). Phanerozoic palaeolevels of atmospheric CO2 calculated from the GEOCARB model generally agree with independent estimates based on measurements of the carbon isotopic composition of palaeosols and the stomatal index for fossil plants. Correlation of CO2 levels with estimates of palaeoclimate suggests that the atmospheric greenhouse effect has been a major factor in controlling global climate over the past 600 million years.