Lee, Cin-Ty A.Jiang, HeheRonay, ElliMinisini, DanielStiles, JacksonNeal, Matthew2018-07-162018-07-162018Lee, Cin-Ty A., Jiang, Hehe, Ronay, Elli, et al.. "Volcanic ash as a driver of enhanced organic carbon burial in the Cretaceous." <i>Scientific Reports,</i> 8, (2018) Springer Nature: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-22576-3.https://hdl.handle.net/1911/102439On greater than million year timescales, carbon in the ocean-atmosphere-biosphere system is controlled by geologic inputs of CO2ﾠthrough volcanic and metamorphic degassing. High atmospheric CO2ﾠand warm climates in the Cretaceous have been attributed to enhanced volcanic emissions of CO2ﾠthrough more rapid spreading at mid-ocean ridges and, in particular, to a global flare-up in continental arc volcanism. Here, we show that global flare-ups in continental arc magmatism also enhance the global flux of nutrients into the ocean through production of windblown ash. We show that up to 75% of Si, Fe and P is leached from windblown ash during and shortly after deposition, with soluble Si, Fe and P inputs from ash alone in the Cretaceous being higher than the combined input of dust and rivers today. Ash-derived nutrient inputs may have increased the efficiency of biological productivity and organic carbon preservation in the Cretaceous, possibly explaining why the carbon isotopic signature of Cretaceous seawater was high. Variations in volcanic activity, particularly continental arcs, have the potential of profoundly altering carbon cycling at the Earth's surface by increasing inputs of CO2ﾠand ash-borne nutrients, which together enhance biological productivity and burial of organic carbon, generating an abundance of hydrocarbon source rocks.engThis article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder.Journal articlehttps://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-22576-3