Coastal El Niño triggers rapid marine silicate alteration on the seafloor

Marine silicate alteration plays a key role in the global carbon and cation cycles, although the timeframe of this process in response to extreme weather events is poorly understood. Here we investigate surface sediments across the Peruvian margin before and after extreme rainfall and runoff (coasta...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nature communications 2023-03, Vol.14 (1), p.1676-1676, Article 1676
Main Authors: Geilert, Sonja, Frick, Daniel A., Garbe-Schönberg, Dieter, Scholz, Florian, Sommer, Stefan, Grasse, Patricia, Vogt, Christoph, Dale, Andrew W.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
140/125
140/58
147/28
704/106/829/827
704/47/4112
704/47/4113
Ablation
Alkalinity
Carbon cycle
Carbon dioxide
Cations
Clay minerals
Cycles
El Nino
Extreme weather
Germanium
Humanities and Social Sciences
Isotopes
multidisciplinary
Ocean floor
Rain
Rainfall
Runoff
Science
Science (multidisciplinary)
Sediments
Silicon isotopes
Time
Weather
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Summary:Marine silicate alteration plays a key role in the global carbon and cation cycles, although the timeframe of this process in response to extreme weather events is poorly understood. Here we investigate surface sediments across the Peruvian margin before and after extreme rainfall and runoff (coastal El Niño) using Ge/Si ratios and laser-ablated solid and pore fluid Si isotopes (δ 30 Si). Pore fluids following the rainfall show elevated Ge/Si ratios (2.87 µmol mol −1 ) and δ 30 Si values (3.72‰), which we relate to rapid authigenic clay formation from reactive terrigenous minerals delivered by continental runoff. This study highlights the direct coupling of terrestrial erosion and associated marine sedimentary processes. We show that marine silicate alteration can be rapid and highly dynamic in response to local weather conditions, with a potential impact on marine alkalinity and CO 2 -cycling on short timescales of weeks to months, and thus element turnover on human time scales. This study identifies the rapidness of marine mineral reactions, directly after an extreme rainfall event. The reactions have the potential to affect marine cation and CO 2 cycling, impacting element turnover on human time scales
ISSN:2041-1723
2041-1723
DOI:10.1038/s41467-023-37186-5