Connect4Carbon

This research project concentrates on the fundamental open science questions in the field of Earth’s carbon cycling from the mantle to the ocean-atmospheric system. The primary challenge is to identify key mantle and crustal reservoirs and processes governing carbon fluxes in volcanically and tectonically active regions, and their controls on the carbon budget delivered at the surface, resolving the different contributions from recycled sources.

The expected results include a better understanding of (i) the respective roles of the slab, the mantle wedge and the overlying crust in determining the volcanic arc C signature and budget, (ii) the role of shallow and deep mantle in controlling the C budget at within-plate volcanoes, and (iii) the processes controlling the production, transport and degassing of non-volcanic C fluxes in tectonically active regions in distinct geodynamic settings (active orogens and extensional settings).

The project associates five research units formed by scientists from a variety of sub-disciplines within Earth Sciences, including igneous and metamorphic petrology, geochemistry, and volcanology. The methodology is not target extensive, comprehensive, but rather focuses on specific key processes occurring in specific reservoirs.