Deep Carbon and the Life Cycle of Large Igneous Provinces

• DOI: 10.2138/gselements.15.5.319
• Publication Date: 2019-10-05T15:20:46Z
• Authors: Benjamin A. Black; Sally A. Gibson
• Keywords: Flood basalt; Silicic; Large igneous province; Outgassing

Carbon is central to the formation and environmental impact of large igneous provinces (LIPs). These vast magmatic events occur over geologically short timescales include voluminous flood basalts, along with silicic low-volume alkaline magmas. Surface outgassing CO2 from basalts may average up 3,000 Mt per year during LIP emplacement subsidized by fractionating magmas deep in crust. The quantities carbon mobilized LIPs be sourced convecting mantle, lithospheric mantle relative significance each potential source poorly known probably varies between LIPs. Because draw on reservoirs typically untapped plate boundary magmatism, they are integral Earth's long-term cycle.