Is there anything that burps? It was an earthquake

During earthquakes, spider webs open from cracks underground, allowing gases deep in our planet to spread upwards. Researchers have now compiled the first long-term record showing the relationship between earthquakes and CO2 release.

While the amount of carbon dioxide emitted from tectonic activity is minuscule compared to the billions of tons that human activity injects into the atmosphere each year, the research published Wednesday in Science Advances sheds light on the carbon cycle that controls the planet’s climate.

“It modifies the Earth’s climate on geological time scales,” said James Muirhead, a geologist at the University of Auckland in New Zealand, who was not involved in the research that praised the data set compiled by a team of Italian scientists.

The results could also pave the way towards predicting seismic activity.

The area around the Apennine Mountains in central Italy, about an hour east of Rome, is riddled with imperfections. Devastating earthquakes struck the area repeatedly, including the L’Aquila earthquake in 2009. This earthquake, which killed hundreds of people, made headlines again in 2012 when a judge ruled that seven Italian seismologists were guilty of manslaughter because they failed to warn residents Near the potential risk. Seismic activity in the region has been linked to carbon dioxide escape.

Giovanni Chiudini, a geochemist at the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology in Bologna, and colleagues analyzed the carbon content in groundwater in the Apennines. From April 2009 through December 2018, researchers collected hundreds of water samples from 36 different springs. They calculated the carbon dioxide concentration in each sample after subtracting the contributions from rainwater and soil.

The researchers estimated that about 1.7 million tons of carbon dioxide were discharged by tectonic activity in the study area over a period of a decade. This is roughly equivalent to the carbon dioxide emitted from a single volcanic eruption.

The real surprise came when Dr. Chiudini and his collaborators compared their data with records of nearly 17,000 earthquakes that occurred nearby. The researchers found that seismic activity and carbon dioxide discharges clearly follow each other in time – periods of high seismic activity lined up with a peak gas release. For example, the team showed that the carbon dioxide concentrations measured in the months following the L’Aquila earthquake were nearly twice what they were in 2013, a period of low earthquake activity. High concentrations were measured again in September and November 2016, only a few months after several large earthquakes shook the area.

Scientists suggest that this link makes sense, based on what is happening miles below the surface. The Central Apennine Mountains lie on top of the subduction zone as carbon-rich rock plates are continuously sinking downwards. Dr. Chiwedini said that when those rocks sink, they are subjected to hotter and hotter conditions until they melt, resulting in the release of gases. “A hundred kilometers below the Apennines, you have a huge source of carbon dioxide,” he said. As the pressure underground increases, the crust eventually breaks apart, which leads to earthquakes.

Scientists suggest that the earthquakes themselves may also lead to increased CO2 discharge. This is because the movement of the earth may cause gas bubbles to form deep in the earth, similar to shaking a bottle of champagne, said Dr. Chiwedini. The researchers suggest that the feedback loop may help explain the aftershocks in the Apennines.

The big question is what happens first, the earthquake or the carbon dioxide.

“If CO2 discharges are driving large earthquakes in time, then perhaps these methods can be used in conjunction with other tools as earthquake indicators,” said Dr. Muirhead.

But he said more observations – with converging measurements in time – would be required, and even then, forecasting seismic activity would still be a charged endeavor. “The suspicions are still very high and the consequences are very dire,” he said.

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