Articles | Volume 10, issue 3
https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-10-513-2022
© Author(s) 2022. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-10-513-2022
© Author(s) 2022. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
07 Jun 2022
Research article |
| 07 Jun 2022
| 07 Jun 2022
The effect of lithology on the relationship between denudation rate and chemical weathering pathways – evidence from the eastern Tibetan Plateau
German Research Center for Geosciences, 14473 Potsdam, Germany
Kristen L. Cook
German Research Center for Geosciences, 14473 Potsdam, Germany
Albert Galy
Centre de Recherches Pétrographiques et Géochimiques, CNRS, Université de 13 Lorraine, 54500 Nancy, France
Hella Wittmann
German Research Center for Geosciences, 14473 Potsdam, Germany
Niels Hovius
German Research Center for Geosciences, 14473 Potsdam, Germany
Institute of Geosciences, Potsdam University, 14476 Potsdam, Germany
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Short summary
Erosion modulates Earth's carbon cycle by exposing a variety of lithologies to chemical weathering. We measured water chemistry in streams on the eastern Tibetan Plateau that drain either metasedimentary or granitoid rocks. With increasing erosion, weathering shifts from being a CO2 sink to being a CO2 source for both lithologies. However, metasedimentary rocks typically weather 2–10 times faster than granitoids, with implications for the role of lithology in modulating the carbon cycle.
Erosion modulates Earth's carbon cycle by exposing a variety of lithologies to chemical...
