中文

Chinese Journal of Nature ›› 2025, Vol. 47 ›› Issue (1): 33-39.doi: 10.3969/j.issn.0253-9608.2025.01.004

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The continued weathering of highland erosional materials in lowlands regulates global climate change

GUO Yulong, YANG Bo, HAN Xue, YANG Shouye   

  1. State Key Laboratory of Marine Geology, School of Ocean and Earth Science, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092, China
  • Received:2024-11-11 Online:2025-02-25 Published:2025-02-20

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Abstract:

Continental silicate weathering is a signifificant geological carbon sink on tectonic timescales. The continued weathering of highland erosional materials in lowlands refers to the process in which large quantities of fresh silicate minerals, generated by uplift and erosion in orogenic belts, are transported to plains with more favorable climatic conditions for further chemical weathering. This represents a natural “enhanced weathering” process, contributing to carbon sequestration. Major forms of this process include the flfloodplain weathering of flfluvial sediments, pedogenic weathering of loess deposits, and the continued weathering of exposed shelf sediments during low sea-level periods. Against the backdrop of the Cenozoic uplift of the Tibetan Plateau, the continued weathering of highland erosional materials in lowlands has allowed chemical weathering rates to sustain their response to increasing erosion rates under high erosion conditions, thereby enhancing the capacity of silicate weathering to drive global cooling. On the other hand, the transport of fresh minerals from highlands to lowlands makes their chemical weathering processes heavily inflfluenced by climatic conditions, providing a negative feedback mechanism for climate change. Therefore, the continued weathering of highland erosional materials in lowlands is a crucial mechanism by which sediment source-to-sink systems regulate global carbon cycle balance and climate stability. It is recommended to deepen research on the continued weathering of highland erosional materials in lowlands from the perspective of “source-to-sink” systems and Earth system science. This can be achieved through studies of modern processes, geological records, and numerical simulations, to uncover the regulatory effects of plateau uplift and sedimentary source-to-sink system evolution on the global carbon cycle and climate change across difffferent spatial and temporal scales.