The Geologic Carbon Cycle

In this course, we will (1) review the cycling of carbon between Earth's rock and surface reservoirs on timescales ranging from thousands to billions of years; (2) learn how processes within the carbon cycle partition carbon into various organic and inorganic reservoirs, and how carbon cycling influences the isotope composition of the reservoirs; and (3) learn how ancient carbon cycle dynamics can be reconstructed by combining isotope and rock volume measurements with numerical models of carbon cycling. The class will include lecture, reading and discussion of classic and current papers on the geologic carbon cycle, and modeling exercises.