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July 10 (UPI) – When forest fires and plants burn trees and fuel, only a portion of the carbon is released into the atmosphere. Burning leaves behind a residue called black carbon
According to new research, climate models have failed to explain black carbon – an important part of the global carbon cycle.
About a third of the carbon produced by fires is left behind in the form of black carbon. The residue is fairly stable. It is stored in soil sediments and lakes. Over time, black carbon along the shoreline is eroded and transported to the ocean, where it can be stored long-term in marine sediments.
Researchers at the University of Zurich have discovered that the black carbon cycle plays an important and underestimated role. sequestration.
"Our study is the first to address the flow of black carbon in sediments by rivers on a global scale," Alysha Coppola, a geographer and postdoctoral researcher in Zurich, said in a press release. "We have discovered that a surprisingly high amount of black carbon is exported by the rivers."
The new badysis, published this week in the journal Nature Geoscience, shows that river systems with larger amounts of water are Erosion and sediment transport to the ocean.
The researchers were also able to date dozens of black carbon samples. The results showed that black carbon can remain in the environment for thousands of years before being transported into the ocean by river systems. Until now, scientists thought that black carbon was eroded relatively quickly.
The revelation explains why river systems still host significant amounts of black carbon, even in the absence of bush fire activity. Tanks that act as pools waiting before being exported to the ocean, "said Coppola.
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