SEAFLOOR WEATHERING CONTROLS ON ATMOSPHERIC CO2 AND GLOBAL CLIMATE

Abstract

Alteration of surficial marine basalts at low temperatures (<40°C) is a potentially important sink for atmospheric CO2 over geologic time. Petrologic analyses, thermodynamic calculations, and experimental weathering results point to extensive Ca leaching and consumption of marine CO2 during alteration. Basalt weathering in seawater-like solutions is sensitive to temperature. The activation energy for initial basalt weathering in seawater is 41-65 kJ mol-1. If seafloor weathering temperatures are set by deep ocean fluids under high fluid to rock ratios the feedback between weathering and atmospheric CO2 is indirect, but sizeable. If the bulk of seafloor weathering occurs in the presence of low-temperature hydrothermal fluids, the weathering feedback depends on the linkage between spreading rates and heat flow. In either case, the primary linkage between seafloor weathering and the global carbon cycle appears to be thermal as opposed to chemical.