On the origin(s) and evolution of Earth’s carbon

Sami Mikhail; Evelyn Füri

doi:10.2138/gselements.15.5.307

On the origin(s) and evolution of Earth’s carbon

Research output: Contribution to specialist publication › Article

Abstract

The isotopic “flavor” of Earth’s major volatiles, including carbon, can be compared to the known reservoirs of volatiles in the solar system and so determine the source of Earth’s carbon. This requires knowing Earth’s bulk carbon isotope value, which is not straightforward to determine. During Earth’s differentiation, carbon was partitioned into the core, mantle, crust, and atmosphere. Therefore, although carbon is omnipresent within the Earth system, scientists have yet to determine its distribution and relative abundances. This article addresses what we know of the processes involved in the formation of Earth’s carbon reservoirs, and, by deduction, what we know about the possible origins of Earth’s carbon.

Original language	English
Pages	307-312
Volume	15
No.	5
Specialist publication	Elements
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.2138/gselements.15.5.307
Publication status	Published - 1 Oct 2019

Keywords

Cosmochemistry
Carbon isotope
Geochemistry
Meteoritics
Planetary Science

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10.2138/gselements.15.5.307Licence: CC BY-SA

Mikhail_2019_Elements_Earth'scarbon_CC
Copyright © The Mineralogical Society of America. Open Access article. This is licenced under a CC BY-SA Licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/). Any subsequent reuse of this content must be licenced under the same Creative Commons Share Alike licence.
Final published version, 1.11 MBLicence: CC BY-SA

1 Finished

The Nature of the Deep Nitrogen Cycle: The nature of the deep nitrogen cycle
Mikhail, S. (PI)
NERC
1/06/17 → 4/09/20
Project: Standard

2 Article
1 Chapter (peer-reviewed)
1 Editorial

Editorial: deep carbon science
Cardace, D., Bower, D., Daniel, I., Ionescu, A., Mikhail, S., Pistone, M. & Zahirovic, S., 12 Nov 2020, In: Frontiers in Earth Science. 8, 611295.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Editorial › peer-review

Open Access
File
A secretive mechanical exchange between mantle and crustal volatiles revealed by helium isotopes in ¹³C-depleted diamonds
Mikhail, S., Crosby, J., Stuart, F., DiNicola, L. & Abernethy, F. A. J., 10 Oct 2019, In: Geochemical Perspectives Letters. 11, p. 39-43
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Open Access
File
Diamonds and the Mantle Geodynamics of Carbon
Shirey, S., Smit, K., Pearson, D. G., Walter, M., Aulbach, S., Brenker, F., Bureau, H., Burnham, A., Cartigny, P., Chacko, T., Frost , D., Hauri, E., Jacob, D., Jacobsen, S., Kohn, S., Luth, R., Mikhail, S., Navon, O., Nestola, F. & Nimis, P. & 9 others, Palot, M., Smith, E., Stachel, T., Stagno, V., Steele, A., Stern, R., Thomassot, E., Thomson, A. & Weiss, Y., 20 Oct 2019, Deep carbon : past to pesent. Orcutt, B., Daniel, I. & Dasgupta, R. (eds.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p. 89-128 40 p.
Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter (peer-reviewed) › peer-review

Open Access
File

Cite this

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title = "On the origin(s) and evolution of Earth{\textquoteright}s carbon",

abstract = "The isotopic “flavor” of Earth{\textquoteright}s major volatiles, including carbon, can be compared to the known reservoirs of volatiles in the solar system and so determine the source of Earth{\textquoteright}s carbon. This requires knowing Earth{\textquoteright}s bulk carbon isotope value, which is not straightforward to determine. During Earth{\textquoteright}s differentiation, carbon was partitioned into the core, mantle, crust, and atmosphere. Therefore, although carbon is omnipresent within the Earth system, scientists have yet to determine its distribution and relative abundances. This article addresses what we know of the processes involved in the formation of Earth{\textquoteright}s carbon reservoirs, and, by deduction, what we know about the possible origins of Earth{\textquoteright}s carbon.",

keywords = "Cosmochemistry, Carbon isotope, Geochemistry, Meteoritics, Planetary Science",

author = "Sami Mikhail and Evelyn F{\"u}ri",

note = "SM acknowledges support from the National Environmental Research Council (grant no. NE/PO12167/1) and the Carnegie Trust for the Universities of Scotland (grant no. RIG007794). EF acknowledges funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union{\textquoteright}s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement no. 715028).",

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N2 - The isotopic “flavor” of Earth’s major volatiles, including carbon, can be compared to the known reservoirs of volatiles in the solar system and so determine the source of Earth’s carbon. This requires knowing Earth’s bulk carbon isotope value, which is not straightforward to determine. During Earth’s differentiation, carbon was partitioned into the core, mantle, crust, and atmosphere. Therefore, although carbon is omnipresent within the Earth system, scientists have yet to determine its distribution and relative abundances. This article addresses what we know of the processes involved in the formation of Earth’s carbon reservoirs, and, by deduction, what we know about the possible origins of Earth’s carbon.

AB - The isotopic “flavor” of Earth’s major volatiles, including carbon, can be compared to the known reservoirs of volatiles in the solar system and so determine the source of Earth’s carbon. This requires knowing Earth’s bulk carbon isotope value, which is not straightforward to determine. During Earth’s differentiation, carbon was partitioned into the core, mantle, crust, and atmosphere. Therefore, although carbon is omnipresent within the Earth system, scientists have yet to determine its distribution and relative abundances. This article addresses what we know of the processes involved in the formation of Earth’s carbon reservoirs, and, by deduction, what we know about the possible origins of Earth’s carbon.

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KW - Carbon isotope

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On the origin(s) and evolution of Earth’s carbon

Abstract

Keywords

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Projects

The Nature of the Deep Nitrogen Cycle: The nature of the deep nitrogen cycle

Research output

Editorial: deep carbon science

A secretive mechanical exchange between mantle and crustal volatiles revealed by helium isotopes in 13C-depleted diamonds

Diamonds and the Mantle Geodynamics of Carbon

Cite this

A secretive mechanical exchange between mantle and crustal volatiles revealed by helium isotopes in ¹³C-depleted diamonds