Document Type
Article
Publication Date
7-1-2025
Journal / Book Title
Global and Planetary Change
Abstract
The peak of the Late Paleozoic Ice Age (LPIA) coincided with atmospheric carbon dioxide (pCO2) lows, and large-magnitude fluctuations in glacial-interglacial pCO2, but the driver(s) for pCO2 drawdown at this time remain debated. Backed by parameters for the frequency and magnitude of Late Carboniferous volcanism derived from the rock record, we apply an intermediate complexity Earth system model to evaluate the biogeochemical impacts of ash-borne nutrients from frequent (decadal) and explosive silicic volcanism on nutrient cycling ca. 310–300 Ma. Results show that volcanic perturbations result in negligible changes in marine particulate organic carbon export concurrent with sustained increases in pCO2 (+20 ppm), suggesting that volcanic pCO2 emissions are not sequestered by fertilization and/or weathering of associated Fe-bearing volcanic ash. We propose that Fe loading in the Permo-Carboniferous may have been bolstered by abundant and highly reactive non-volcanic mineral dust. Future carbon cycle modeling of this interval should integrate the effects of high mineral dust loading with volcanically-induced high Fe solubilities to assess the resultant effects on biological productivity and consequent pCO2 sequestration on scales sufficient to initiate or sustain cold climate modes during the lead-up to the peak LPIA. The Permo-Carboniferous world serves as a deep-time analog for understanding the novel mechanistic links among explosive volcanism, acidic atmospheric chemistry, nutrient availability in mineral aerosols, and organic carbon burial, with implications for Earth system responses to persistent biogeochemical forcings and Earth's future in a purposefully geoengineered world.
DOI
10.1016/j.gloplacha.2025.104801
Journal ISSN / Book ISBN
105000561300 (Scopus)
MSU Digital Commons Citation
Pfeifer, Lily S.; Wu, Qingting; Cui, Ying; and Soreghan, Gerilyn S., "Modeling the impact of explosive volcanism on biogeochemical cycling at the peak of the Late Paleozoic icehouse" (2025). Department of Earth and Environmental Studies Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works. 732.
https://digitalcommons.montclair.edu/earth-environ-studies-facpubs/732
Published Citation
Pfeifer, L. S., Wu, Q., Cui, Y., & Soreghan, G. S. (2025). Modeling the impact of explosive volcanism on biogeochemical cycling at the peak of the Late Paleozoic icehouse. Global and Planetary Change, 250, 104801.
Comments
This Open Access article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made.