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Sustainable carbon emissions: The geologic perspective – CORRIGENDUM

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 October 2015

Donald J. DePaolo

Abstract

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Type
Corrigendum
Information
MRS Energy & Sustainability , Volume 2 , 2015 , E14
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2015 

doi: 10.1557/mre.2015.10, Published by Materials Research Society, 26 August 2015.

The article contains an error in the figure caption for Figure 8 on page 8. The caption should read:

Figure 8: (a) Plausible rate of outgassing of deep mantle carbon to the atmosphere over the course of Earth history (from Ref. 89). The inferred modern rate is 0.03 GtC/yr and the rate at 3.0 billion years ago is about 0.06 GtC/yr. Other estimates are as much as twice these numbers (e.g., Ref. 19). At the rates shown, approximately all of the original carbon in the mantle would have been released to the atmosphere over the past 4+ billion years. In this case, and even more so if the rates were higher, the fact that the Earth’s mantle still contains a lot of carbon would suggest that there is an efficient mechanism to return carbon from the atmosphere back to the mantle. (b) Estimated change of solar luminosity over the last 4.4 billion years (adapted from Ref. 30). (c) Results of a simple calculation showing the partial pressure of CO2 needed in the atmosphere to maintain the Earth’s surface temperature between 0°C and 15°C to compensate for the changing luminosity of the Sun.

The author regrets this error.

References

DePaolo, Donald J. (2015). Sustainable carbon emissions: The geologic perspective. MRS Energy & Sustainability: A Review Journal, 2, E9. doi:10.1557/mre.2015.10.Google Scholar
Figure 0

Figure 8: (a) Plausible rate of outgassing of deep mantle carbon to the atmosphere over the course of Earth history (from Ref. 89). The inferred modern rate is 0.03 GtC/yr and the rate at 3.0 billion years ago is about 0.06 GtC/yr. Other estimates are as much as twice these numbers (e.g., Ref. 19). At the rates shown, approximately all of the original carbon in the mantle would have been released to the atmosphere over the past 4+ billion years. In this case, and even more so if the rates were higher, the fact that the Earth’s mantle still contains a lot of carbon would suggest that there is an efficient mechanism to return carbon from the atmosphere back to the mantle. (b) Estimated change of solar luminosity over the last 4.4 billion years (adapted from Ref. 30). (c) Results of a simple calculation showing the partial pressure of CO2 needed in the atmosphere to maintain the Earth’s surface temperature between 0°C and 15°C to compensate for the changing luminosity of the Sun.