Abstract
The irregular periodicity of some biosphere phenomena, such as climatic cycles, mass extinctions, abrupt changes of biodiversity rate and others in the course of geological time is analyzed on the basis of a global redox carbon cycle model. It is shown that these differences by nature phenomena have a common cause for the periodicity. The cause is the periodic impact of moving lithospheric plates on photosynthesis via CO2 injections. The source of CO2 is the oxidation of sedimentary organic matter in thermochemical sulfate reduction from zones, where plates collide. The periodicity and the irregularity of lithospheric plates’ movement generate orogenic cycles, at the background of which biosphere events appear. The biosphere events are usually followed by a set of traits that are used to identify the events in the geological past. Orogenic cycles manifested till the moment when the carbon cycle didn’t reach the ecological compensation point, i.e., when the amount of photosynthetically produced carbon will become equal to the amount of the reduced carbon oxidized in the numerous oxidation processes in the Earth’s crust. After reaching this point long-term organic cycles were replaced by short-term climatic oscillations. The same set of traits characterizing the organic cycles and the climatic oscillations evidences for their same nature. The changes concern only duration of the event and the scale of its influence.
Highlights
The periodicity of some biosphere phenomena, as climatic cycles [1,2,3], mass extinctions [4], abrupt changes of biodiversity rate [5,6] and others [7,8,9] in the course of geological time have been noted by many researchers
The irregular periodicity of some biosphere phenomena, such as climatic cycles, mass extinctions, abrupt changes of biodiversity rate and others in the course of geological time is analyzed on the basis of a global redox carbon cycle model
Climatic cycles from the standpoint of global redox carbon cycle model According to the model, each orogenic cycle begins with the growth of CO2 concentration in the orogenic period and is completed with its drop at the close of the geosynclynal period
Summary
The periodicity of some biosphere phenomena, as climatic cycles [1,2,3], mass extinctions [4], abrupt changes of biodiversity rate [5,6] and others [7,8,9] in the course of geological time have been noted by many researchers. Geosynclynal periods are characterized as the time of quiet Earth's crust development, of slow plate movement, as the time of reduction of volcanic activity and mountain building. It is the time for intensive weathering processes, accumulation of precipitation and increased photosynthesis. The suggested sequence of geological events assumes the CO2 injections into “atmosphere – hydrosphere” system and the achievement of maximal concentration of CO2 occur in orogenic period. In geosynclynal period it implies depletion of the pool of inorganic carbon at the expense of photosynthetic CO2 consumption. The studies of isotopic variations of the elements in the above natural objects play a special role in checking the validity of the model, since they are described by the known physico-chemical laws
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