Microbial Oxidation of Lithospheric Organic Carbon in Rapidly Eroding Tropical Mountain Soils. Hemingway, J. D., Hilton, R. G., Hovius, N., Eglinton, T. I., Haghipour, N., Wacker, L., Chen, M., & Galy, V. V. 360(6385):209–212.
Microbial Oxidation of Lithospheric Organic Carbon in Rapidly Eroding Tropical Mountain Soils [link]Paper  doi  abstract   bibtex   
[Microbes eat rocks and leave carbon dioxide] The reaction of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) with silicate rocks provides a carbon sink that helps counterbalance the release of CO2 by volcanic degassing. However, some types of rocks contain petrogenic organic carbon, the oxidation of which adds CO2 to the atmosphere, counteracting the drawdown by silicates. Hemingway et al. present evidence from the rapidly eroding Central Range of Taiwan showing that microbes oxidize roughly two-thirds of the petrogenic organic carbon there and that the rate of oxidation increases with the rate of erosion. [Abstract] Lithospheric organic carbon ( ” petrogenic”; OCpetro) is oxidized during exhumation and subsequent erosion of mountain ranges. This process is a considerable source of carbon dioxide (CO2) to the atmosphere over geologic time scales, but the mechanisms that govern oxidation rates in mountain landscapes are poorly constrained. We demonstrate that, on average, 67 ± 11\,% of the OCpetro initially present in bedrock exhumed from the tropical, rapidly eroding Central Range of Taiwan is oxidized in soils, leading to CO2 emissions of 6.1 to 18.6 metric tons of carbon per square kilometer per year. The molecular and isotopic evolution of bulk OC and lipid biomarkers during soil formation reveals that OCpetro remineralization is microbially mediated. Rapid oxidation in mountain soils drives CO2 emission fluxes that increase with erosion rate, thereby counteracting CO2 drawdown by silicate weathering and biospheric OC burial.
@article{hemingwayMicrobialOxidationLithospheric2018,
  title = {Microbial Oxidation of Lithospheric Organic Carbon in Rapidly Eroding Tropical Mountain Soils},
  author = {Hemingway, Jordon D. and Hilton, Robert G. and Hovius, Niels and Eglinton, Timothy I. and Haghipour, Negar and Wacker, Lukas and Chen, Meng-Chiang and Galy, Valier V.},
  date = {2018-04},
  journaltitle = {Science},
  volume = {360},
  pages = {209--212},
  issn = {0036-8075},
  doi = {10.1126/science.aao6463},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aao6463},
  abstract = {[Microbes eat rocks and leave carbon dioxide] The reaction of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) with silicate rocks provides a carbon sink that helps counterbalance the release of CO2 by volcanic degassing. However, some types of rocks contain petrogenic organic carbon, the oxidation of which adds CO2 to the atmosphere, counteracting the drawdown by silicates. Hemingway et al. present evidence from the rapidly eroding Central Range of Taiwan showing that microbes oxidize roughly two-thirds of the petrogenic organic carbon there and that the rate of oxidation increases with the rate of erosion.

[Abstract] Lithospheric organic carbon ( ” petrogenic”; OCpetro) is oxidized during exhumation and subsequent erosion of mountain ranges. This process is a considerable source of carbon dioxide (CO2) to the atmosphere over geologic time scales, but the mechanisms that govern oxidation rates in mountain landscapes are poorly constrained. We demonstrate that, on average, 67 ± 11\,\% of the OCpetro initially present in bedrock exhumed from the tropical, rapidly eroding Central Range of Taiwan is oxidized in soils, leading to CO2 emissions of 6.1 to 18.6 metric tons of carbon per square kilometer per year. The molecular and isotopic evolution of bulk OC and lipid biomarkers during soil formation reveals that OCpetro remineralization is microbially mediated. Rapid oxidation in mountain soils drives CO2 emission fluxes that increase with erosion rate, thereby counteracting CO2 drawdown by silicate weathering and biospheric OC burial.},
  keywords = {*imported-from-citeulike-INRMM,~INRMM-MiD:c-14568404,carbon-cycle,mountainous-areas,organic-carbon,soil-erosion,soil-microbial-properties,soil-resources,tropical-climate,unexpected-effect},
  number = {6385}
}

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