Abstract
Carbonate carbon sequestration (CS) can aid in solving the problem of terrestrial residual carbon sinks and imbalances in the global carbon budget. Thus, complete understanding of the magnitude, spatiotemporal distribution, and evolution of this sequestration is highly desirable. On the basis of random forest regression and maximal potential dissolution model for carbonate, we estimated the CS of typical carbonate weathering in China from 2000 to 2014, that is, the sequestration of limestone weathering, using long-term ecologic, meteorological, hydrological raster data, and monitored data from 44 watersheds in China and surrounding regions. We extended our analyses by systematically exploring the spatiotemporal pattern and evolution trend of the flux and total sequestration. High levels of ionic activity coefficients of Ca2+ and HCO −3 in limestone regions were observed to be mainly distributed in Northern and Northwestern China with a clear gradient from northwest to southeast. With a contrary spatial pattern, the annual average CS flux (CSF) of limestone weathering in China was estimated to be 4.28 t C km−2 yr−1, with high values mainly in the karst zones in Southeastern China. The mean CSF in different latitudes showed that Southern China (south of 28.14°N) was the region with the largest interannual fluctuation of flux and CSF increases as latitude decreases. The mean CSF in subtropical and tropical (TR) regions was the maximum of all major climate types, and for the frigid (F), mid-temperate (MTE), warm temperate (WTE), and temperate (TE) major climates; the CSF in the desert (D) subdivided climate was the minimum of these climates. By contrast, the values in grassland (G) and broad-leaved forest subdivided climate were the maximum. The pixel-based trend analysis indicated that the CSF of limestone weathering in China was slightly increasing in the period 2000–2014 with a rate of 0.036 t C km−2 yr−1. Furthermore, the annual total CS was estimated to be 7.07 Tg carbon per year (Tg C yr−1) with high levels in 2002, 2008, and 2010, and the minimum appeared in 2011 with a slightly increasing trend of the total CS being observed with a rate of 0.06 Tg C yr−1. Tibet Autonomous Region was the administrative division with the largest total CS of limestone weathering (1.20 Tg C yr−1) in China, and karst zones in Southeastern China had the largest total CS (4.95 Tg C yr−1) which accounts for 70.01% of that in the three divided karst regions. On the basis of the diversity of rock chemical weathering carbon cycle mechanisms of different carbonate rock types, we estimated that the total CS of carbonate weathering in China may reach 11.37 Tg C yr−1 (the sink was approximately 5.02 t C km−2 yr−1), which amounts to 16.20% of the total biomass CS in China, furthermore, the CSF of carbonate weathering in China can reach 6.54 t C km−2 yr−1 if excluding the interference of the negative runoff. This finding indicates that CS of carbonate weathering is an indispensable part of China’s terrestrial carbon sink system. The research pattern of this study was important for further improving the accuracy of the estimation for the global carbonate weathering carbon sink.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Beaulieu E, Goddéris Y, Donnadieu Y, Labat D, Roelandt C. 2012. High sensitivity of the continental-weathering carbon dioxide sink to future climate change. Nat Clim Change, 2: 346–349
Breiman L. 1996. Bagging predictors. Machine Learn, 24: 123–140
Breiman L. 2001. Random forest. Machine Learn, 45: 5–32
Brook G A, Folkoff M E, Box E O. 2010. A world model of soil carbon dioxide. Earth Surf Process Landf, 8: 79–88
Cao J H, Jiang Z C, Yuan D X, Xia R Y, Zhang C. 2017. The progress in the study of the karst dynamic system and global changes in the past 30 years (in Chinese). Geol China, 44: 874–900
Cao J H, Yang H, Kang Z Q. 2011. Preliminary regional estimation of carbon sink flux by carbonate rock corrosion: A case study of the Pearl River Basin. Chin Sci Bull, 56: 3766–3773
Chen M Y, Shi W, Xie P P, Silva V B S, Kousky V E, Higgins W R, Janowiak J E. 2008. Assessing objective techniques for gauge-based analyses of global daily precipitation. J Geophys Res, 113: D04110
Dreybrodt W. 1988. Processes in Karst Systems. Berlin: Springer-Verlag. 288
Gaillardet J, Dupré B, Louvat P, Allègre C J. 1999. Global silicate weathering and CO2 consumption rates deduced from the chemistry of large rivers. Chem Geol, 159: 3–30
Gombert P. 2002. Role of karstic dissolution in global carbon cycle. Glob Planet Change, 33: 177–184
Guo Z D, Hu H F, Li P, Li N Y, Fang J Y. 2013. Spatio-temporal changes in biomass carbon sinks in China’s forests from 1977 to 2008. Sci China Life Sci, 56: 661–671
Ho T K. 1998. The random subspace method for constructing decision forests. IEEE Trans Pattern Anal Machine Intell, 20: 832–844
Jiang Z C, Qin X Q, Cao J H, Jiang X Z, He S Y, Luo W Q. 2011. Calculation of atmospheric CO2 sink formed in karst progresses of the karst divided regions in China (in Chinese). Carsol Sin, 30: 363–367
Li H W, Wang S J, Bai X Y, Luo W J, Tang H, Cao Y, Wu L H, Chen F, Li Q, Zeng C, Wang M M. 2018. Spatiotemporal distribution and national measurement of the global carbonate carbon sink. Sci Total Environ, 643: 157–170
Li J Y, Zhang J. 2003. Chemical weathering processes and atmospheric CO2 consumption in the yellow river drainage basin (in Chinese). Mar Geol Quat Geol, 23: 43–49
Li P C, Guo M, Wang L X, Li Q L, Xu B, Li J Y, Zheng F M. 2011. Research of dynamics and relationship of precipitation and temperature in the recent 60 years in China (in Chinese). Eng Sci, 13: 29–36
Liu S H, Yan D H, Wang H, Li C Z, Qin T L, Weng B S, Xing Z Q. 2016. Evaluation of TRMM 3B42V7 at the basin scale over mainland China (in Chinese). Adv Water Sci, 27: 639–651
Liu Z H, Dreybrodt W, Han J, Li H J. 2005. Equilibrium chemistry of the CaCO3-CO2-H2O system and discussions (in Chinese). Carsol Sin, 24: 1–14
Liu Z H, Dreybrodt W, Wang H J. 2010. A new direction in effective accounting for the atmospheric CO2 budget: Considering the combined action of carbonate dissolution, the global water cycle and photosynthetic uptake of DIC by aquatic organisms. Earth-Sci Rev, 99: 162–172
Liu Z H, Dreybrodt W. 2012. Comparison of carbon sequestration capacity between carbonate weathering and forests: The necessity to change traditional ideas and methods of study of carbon sinks (in Chinese). Carsol Sin, 31: 345–348
Liu Z H, Macpherson G L, Groves C, Martin J B, Yuan D X, Zeng S B. 2018. Large and active CO2 uptake by coupled carbonate weathering. Earth-Sci Rev, 182: 42–49
Liu Z, Zhao J. 2000. Contribution of carbonate rock weathering to the atmospheric CO2 sink. Environ Geol, 39: 1053–1058
Ma Z G, Fu C B. 2005. Decadal variations of arid and semi-arid boundary in China (in Chinese). Chin J Geophys, 48: 519–525
Martin J B. 2016. Carbonate minerals in the global carbon cycle. Chem Geol, 449: 58–72
Plummer L N, Busenberg E. 1982. The solubilities of calcite, aragonite and vaterite in CO2-H2O solutions between 0 and 90°C, and an evaluation of the aqueous model for the system CaCO3-CO2-H2O. Geochim Cosmochim Acta, 46: 1011–1040
Pu J B, Jiang Z C, Yuan D X, Zhang C. 2015. Some opinions on rockweathering-related carbon sinks from the IPCC fifth assessment report (in Chinese). Adv Earth Sci, 30: 1081–1090
Qin X Q, Liu P Y, Huang Q B, Zhang L K. 2013. Estimation of atmospheric/soil CO2 consumption by rock weathering in the Pearl River Valley (in Chinese). Acta Geosci Sin, 34: 455–462
Qiu D S, Zhuang D F, Hu Y F, Yao R. 2004. Estimation of carbon sink capacity caused by rock weathering in China (in Chinese). Earth Sci—J China Univ Geosci, 29: 177–182
Reshef D N, Reshef Y A, Finucane H K, Grossman S R, McVean G, Turnbaugh P J, Lander E S, Mitzenmacher M, Sabeti P C. 2011. Detecting novel associations in large data sets. Science, 334: 1518–1524
Song X W, Gao Y, Wen X F, Guo D L, Yu G R, He N P, Zhang J Z. 2016. Rock-weathering-related carbon sinks and associated ecosystem service functions in the karst critical zone in China (in Chinese). Acta Geogr Sin, 71: 1926–1938
Sun R, Wu Z X, Chen B Q, Yang C. 2016. Spatio-temporal patterns of climatic changes in Hainan Island in recent 55 years (in Chinese). J Meteorol Res Appl, 37: 1–7
Wang J A, Zuo W. 2010. Geographic Atlas of China. Beijing: China Cartographic Publishing House. 362
Wissbrun K F, French D M, Patterson Jr A. 1954. The true ionization constant of carbonic acid in aqueous solution from 5° to 45°. J Phys Chem, 58: 693–695
Yan H, Wang S Q, Wang J B, Lu H Q, Guo A H, Zhu Z C, Myneni R B, Shugart H H. 2016. Assessing spatiotemporal variation of drought in China and its impact on agriculture during 1982–2011 by using PDSI indices and agriculture drought survey data. J Geophys Res, 121: 2283–2298
Zeng S B, Jiang Y J, Liu Z H. 2016. Assessment of climate impacts on the karst-related carbon sink in SW China using MPD and GIS. Glob Planet Change, 144: 171–181
Zhang H, Wu P B, Yin A J, Yang X H, Zhang M, Gao C. 2017. Prediction of soil organic carbon in an intensively managed reclamation zone of eastern China: A comparison of multiple linear regressions and the random forest model. Sci Total Environ, 592: 704–713
Zhang J P, Zhang L B, Xu C, Liu W L, Qi Y, Wo X. 2014. Vegetation variation of mid-subtropical forest based on MODIS NDVI data—A case study of Jinggangshan City, Jiangxi Province. Acta Ecol Sin, 34: 7–12
Zhang L K, Qin X Q, Liu P Y, Huang Q B. 2016. Chemical denudation rate and atmospheric CO2 consumption by H2CO3 and H2SO4 in the Yangtze River Catchment (in Chinese). Acta Geol Sin, 90: 1933–1944
Zhang N, Jin J X, Tong C F, Zhang H L, Qu Z Y. 2017. Spatiotemporal variation of evapotranspiration of referred crops and the affecting factors in Tibet (in Chinese). Arid Zone Res, 34: 1027–1034
Acknowledgements
We sincerely appreciate the constructive comments and suggestions of anonymous reviewers. Special thanks are given to Prof. Dr. Liu Zaihua (Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China) for his thoughtful comments and corrections, which greatly improved the original draft. This work was supported by the United Fund of Karst Science Research Center (Grant No. U1612441), the National Key Research Program of China (Grant Nos. 2016YFC0502102 & 2016YFC0502300), the “Western Light” Talent Training Plan of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Class A 2018), the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Technology Services Network Program (Grant Nos. KFJ-STS-ZDTP-036), the International Cooperation Agency International Partnership Program (Grant Nos. 132852KYSB20170029 & 2014-3), the Guizhou High-Level Innovative Talent Training Program “Ten” Level Talents Program (Grant No. 2016-5648), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 41571130074 & 41571130042) and the Science and Technology Plan of Guizhou Province of China (Grant No. 2017-2966).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Li, H., Wang, S., Bai, X. et al. Spatiotemporal evolution of carbon sequestration of limestone weathering in China. Sci. China Earth Sci. 62, 974–991 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11430-018-9324-2
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11430-018-9324-2