Large Igneous Province Sulfur Emissions Have Long‐Term (>1000 Years) Effects on the Ocean Carbon Cycle
Abstract Large Igneous Province (LIP) eruptions are thought to have driven environmental and climate change over wide temporal scales ranging from a few to thousands of years. Since the radiative effects and atmospheric lifetime of carbon dioxide (CO2, warming) and sulfur dioxide (SO2, cooling) are...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Wiley
2025-03-01
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| Series: | Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1029/2024GC011893 |
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| author | Hee Jun Cheong Tushar Mittal Courtney Jean Sprain Isabel M. Fendley |
| author_facet | Hee Jun Cheong Tushar Mittal Courtney Jean Sprain Isabel M. Fendley |
| author_sort | Hee Jun Cheong |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Large Igneous Province (LIP) eruptions are thought to have driven environmental and climate change over wide temporal scales ranging from a few to thousands of years. Since the radiative effects and atmospheric lifetime of carbon dioxide (CO2, warming) and sulfur dioxide (SO2, cooling) are very different, the conventional assumption has been to analyze the effects of CO2 and SO2 emissions separately and add them together afterward. In this study, we test this assumption by analyzing the joint effect of CO2 and SO2 on the marine carbonate cycle using a biogeochemical carbon cycle box model (Long‐term Ocean‐atmosphere‐Sediment CArbon cycle Reservoir Model). By performing model runs with very fine temporal resolution (∼0.1‐year timestep), we analyze the effects of LIP carbon and sulfur gas emissions on timescales ranging from an individual eruption (hundreds to thousands of years) to the entire long‐term carbon cycle (>100,000 years). We find that, contrary to previous work, sulfur emissions have significant long‐term (>1,000 years) effects on the marine carbon cycle (dissolved inorganic carbon, pH, alkalinity, and carbonate compensation depth). This is due to two processes: the strongly temperature‐dependent equilibrium coefficients for marine carbonate chemistry and the few thousand‐year timescale for ocean overturning circulation. Thus, the effects of volcanic sulfur are not simply additive to the impact of carbon emissions. We develop a causal mechanistic framework to visualize the feedbacks associated with combined carbon and sulfur emissions and the associated timescales. Our results provide a new perspective for understanding the complex feedback mechanisms controlling the environmental effects of large volcanic eruptions over Earth history. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-ede7400e13d2483d9817cd236d1a7d71 |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 1525-2027 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-03-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems |
| spelling | doaj-art-ede7400e13d2483d9817cd236d1a7d712025-08-20T01:49:59ZengWileyGeochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems1525-20272025-03-01263n/an/a10.1029/2024GC011893Large Igneous Province Sulfur Emissions Have Long‐Term (>1000 Years) Effects on the Ocean Carbon CycleHee Jun Cheong0Tushar Mittal1Courtney Jean Sprain2Isabel M. Fendley3Department of Geological Sciences University of Florida Gainesville FL USADepartment of Geosciences Pennsylvania State University University Park PA USADepartment of Geological Sciences University of Florida Gainesville FL USADepartment of Geosciences Pennsylvania State University University Park PA USAAbstract Large Igneous Province (LIP) eruptions are thought to have driven environmental and climate change over wide temporal scales ranging from a few to thousands of years. Since the radiative effects and atmospheric lifetime of carbon dioxide (CO2, warming) and sulfur dioxide (SO2, cooling) are very different, the conventional assumption has been to analyze the effects of CO2 and SO2 emissions separately and add them together afterward. In this study, we test this assumption by analyzing the joint effect of CO2 and SO2 on the marine carbonate cycle using a biogeochemical carbon cycle box model (Long‐term Ocean‐atmosphere‐Sediment CArbon cycle Reservoir Model). By performing model runs with very fine temporal resolution (∼0.1‐year timestep), we analyze the effects of LIP carbon and sulfur gas emissions on timescales ranging from an individual eruption (hundreds to thousands of years) to the entire long‐term carbon cycle (>100,000 years). We find that, contrary to previous work, sulfur emissions have significant long‐term (>1,000 years) effects on the marine carbon cycle (dissolved inorganic carbon, pH, alkalinity, and carbonate compensation depth). This is due to two processes: the strongly temperature‐dependent equilibrium coefficients for marine carbonate chemistry and the few thousand‐year timescale for ocean overturning circulation. Thus, the effects of volcanic sulfur are not simply additive to the impact of carbon emissions. We develop a causal mechanistic framework to visualize the feedbacks associated with combined carbon and sulfur emissions and the associated timescales. Our results provide a new perspective for understanding the complex feedback mechanisms controlling the environmental effects of large volcanic eruptions over Earth history.https://doi.org/10.1029/2024GC011893large igneous provincevolcanic eruptionscarbon cyclecarbon dioxidesulfur dioxide |
| spellingShingle | Hee Jun Cheong Tushar Mittal Courtney Jean Sprain Isabel M. Fendley Large Igneous Province Sulfur Emissions Have Long‐Term (>1000 Years) Effects on the Ocean Carbon Cycle Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems large igneous province volcanic eruptions carbon cycle carbon dioxide sulfur dioxide |
| title | Large Igneous Province Sulfur Emissions Have Long‐Term (>1000 Years) Effects on the Ocean Carbon Cycle |
| title_full | Large Igneous Province Sulfur Emissions Have Long‐Term (>1000 Years) Effects on the Ocean Carbon Cycle |
| title_fullStr | Large Igneous Province Sulfur Emissions Have Long‐Term (>1000 Years) Effects on the Ocean Carbon Cycle |
| title_full_unstemmed | Large Igneous Province Sulfur Emissions Have Long‐Term (>1000 Years) Effects on the Ocean Carbon Cycle |
| title_short | Large Igneous Province Sulfur Emissions Have Long‐Term (>1000 Years) Effects on the Ocean Carbon Cycle |
| title_sort | large igneous province sulfur emissions have long term 1000 years effects on the ocean carbon cycle |
| topic | large igneous province volcanic eruptions carbon cycle carbon dioxide sulfur dioxide |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1029/2024GC011893 |
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