Abstract
We investigate the potential role of dolomite as a long-term buffer on Phanerozoic seawater composition. Using a comprehensive model of Phanerozoic geochemical cycling, we show how variations in the formation rate of sedimentary marine dolomite have buffered seawater saturation state. The total inventory of inorganic carbon reflects the sum of fluxes derived from continental weathering, basalt-seawater exchange, alumino-silicate diagenesis (reverse weathering), and global deposition of calcium carbonate. Although these fluxes are approximately balanced, model results indicate that seawater saturation state is sensitive to the marine dolomite depositional flux. This conclusion is consistent with and constrained by independent proxy data for seawater ion ratios, paleo-atmospheric CO2 concentrations, and paleo-pH data, and dolomite mass-age distribution through Phanerozoic time. Abundant research indicates that dolomite’s occurrence in marine sediments is sensitive to many factors: temperature, seawater composition, paleogeographic setting, continental organization, etc. Although the complexity of the process of dolomite formation prevents a complete understanding of the relative role of these factors, our model results clearly underscore the importance of this mineral in the chemical history of Phanerozoic seawater.
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Acknowledgments
The authors gratefully acknowledge the strong contributions of Mike Guidry and his students at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville in design and optimization of the model’s ODE solver algorithm. FTM and MWG acknowledge NSF Grant OCE 07-49401 for partial support of this research on long-term seawater pH and the CO2-carbonic acid system. We gratefully acknowledge the enormous influence John Morse (MacKenzie et al. 2010) has had on the research efforts of all three authors and his friendship over the years. We miss him dearly.
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Arvidson, R.S., Guidry, M.W. & Mackenzie, F.T. Dolomite Controls on Phanerozoic Seawater Chemistry. Aquat Geochem 17, 735–747 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10498-011-9130-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10498-011-9130-7