The long-term carbon cycle, fossil fuels and atmospheric composition.
The long-term carbon cycle operates over millions of years and involves the exchange of carbon between rocks and the Earth's surface. There are many complex feedback pathways between carbon burial, nutrient cycling, atmospheric carbon dioxide and oxygen, and climate. New calculations of carbon fluxes during the Phanerozoic eon (the past 550 million years) illustrate how the long-term carbon cycle has affected the burial of organic matter and fossil-fuel formation, as well as the evolution of atmospheric composition.
Berner
Robert A
RA
Department of Geology and Geophysics, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06520-8109, USA. robert.berner@yale.edu
D001272:Atmosphere / Q000737:chemistry*; D002244:Carbon / Q000378:metabolism*; D005579:Fossil Fuels; D019015:Geologic Sediments / Q000737:chemistry; D013997:Time Factors
D005579:Fossil Fuels; D002244:Carbon