Journal
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Volume 108, Issue 52, Pages 20873-20880Publisher
NATL ACAD SCIENCES
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1115671108
Keywords
arc basalts; lithium isotopes; mass balance modeling; crust composition; chemical weathering rate
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Funding
- National Science Foundation [EAR 0609689, EAR 0948549]
- Directorate For Geosciences
- Division Of Earth Sciences [0948549] Funding Source: National Science Foundation
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Chemical weathering, as well as physical erosion, changes the composition and shapes the surface of the continental crust. However, the amount of continental material that has been lost over Earth's history due to chemical weathering is poorly constrained. Using a mass balance model for lithium inputs and outputs from the continental crust, we find that the mass of continental crust that has been lost due to chemical weathering is at least 15% of the original mass of the juvenile continental crust, and may be as high as 60%, with a best estimate of approximately 45%. Our results suggest that chemical weathering and subsequent subduction of soluble elements have major impacts on both the mass and the compositional evolution of the continental crust.
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