Weathering and ocean burial of rocks could have triggered Earth’s ice ages

Image caption: MIT geologists have found that tectonic activity gives rise to smectite, a type of clay that can sequester a surprising amount of organic carbon within its microscopic folds (shown here), over millions of years. Image courtesy: Anthony Priestas, Boston University. Article by Isabelle Dumé. Physics World – February 1, 2024. Study: Nature.

Geologists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the US have discovered a connection between two important theories of Earth’s long-term climate history. The first is that exposure of fast-weathering rocks called ophiolites correlates with the climate getting colder. […]

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