Constraining climate sensitivity and continental versus seafloor weathering using an inverse geological carbon cycle model

Nature Communications
Joshua Krissansen-Totton, David C Catling

Abstract

The relative influences of tectonics, continental weathering and seafloor weathering in controlling the geological carbon cycle are unknown. Here we develop a new carbon cycle model that explicitly captures the kinetics of seafloor weathering to investigate carbon fluxes and the evolution of atmospheric CO2 and ocean pH since 100 Myr ago. We compare model outputs to proxy data, and rigorously constrain model parameters using Bayesian inverse methods. Assuming our forward model is an accurate representation of the carbon cycle, to fit proxies the temperature dependence of continental weathering must be weaker than commonly assumed. We find that 15-31 °C (1σ) surface warming is required to double the continental weathering flux, versus 3-10 °C in previous work. In addition, continental weatherability has increased 1.7-3.3 times since 100 Myr ago, demanding explanation by uplift and sea-level changes. The average Earth system climate sensitivity is  K (1σ) per CO2 doubling, which is notably higher than fast-feedback estimates. These conclusions are robust to assumptions about outgassing, modern fluxes and seafloor weathering kinetics.

References

Mar 8, 2008·Science·R Dietmar MüllerChristian Heine
Jun 2, 2011·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·David J BeerlingPaul J Valdes
Aug 7, 2013·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·Rodrigo Caballero, Matthew Huber

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Citations

Apr 21, 2018·Astrobiology·David C CatlingShawn Domagal-Goldman
Jul 24, 2018·Astrobiology·Bradford J Foley, Andrew J Smye
Aug 8, 2019·Astrobiology·David Waltham
Apr 4, 2018·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·Joshua Krissansen-TottonDavid C Catling
Oct 18, 2019·Nature·Terry Plank, Craig E Manning
Dec 3, 2020·Nature Communications·Owen R LehmerJoshua Krissansen-Totton
Jul 16, 2021·Nature·Boriana Kalderon-AsaelPhilip A E Pogge von Strandmann

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Software Mentioned

GEOCARB
SciPy
emcee

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