Dynamics of the Ancient Carbon Cycle

Daniel H. Rothman

Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences. MIT.


Long-term changes in the Earth's carbon cycle are encoded in the isotopic composition of carbon buried in ancient sediments. Extraordinarily large fluctuations in this signal occur in the geologic era preceding the first great diversification of animal life. Analysis of the geochemical records and construction of a simple model indicate that these large fluctuations also precede a major dynamical transition, from a carbon cycle evolving dynamically, far from steady state, to a carbon cycle evolving quasistatically, from one steady state to another. We suggest that this transition reflects a fundamental reorganization of the Earth's biogeochemical cycles.

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