Uncovering the Neoproterozoic carbon cycle - comments about

In, “Uncovering the Neoproterozoic carbon cycle,” by D. T. Johnston, F. A Macdonald, B. C. Gill, P. F Hoffman, and D. P. Schrag, of Havard University, they examined variance in the carbon isotopes in the 10 to 100 million year bracket. What I think they found was that isotope concentrations of carbon 13 varied significantly with the region the sample came from, and is not uniform like the current dissolved organic carbon reservoir model (DOC). The DOC is used to explain that variance in carbon 13, an isotope of carbon, and others are protected from, “isotopic excursions,” since they are buffered by a large amount of water that has carbon in it.




What I believe this team claims to have found was that carbon 13 varies with region, and that variance is representative of a different type of carbon cycle than we have today, primarily, that shale or something similar significantly impacted the surface carbon isotope values changing their concentration so that in different regions in the world, namely Namibia, Canada, and Mongolia, the carbon has, “isotopic covariance.”

What I think this implies is that carbon 12 dating that has been done in the past, may be inaccurate, in areas where the isotopic variance of carbon is significant because of intrinsic peculiarities of the surface carbon cycle of that region at that time.

I found this article of particular interest because of its connection with radiation, geology, and biology. Knowing the carbon cycle physiologically speaking helps to improve, and suggests models on how it could have been different in the past.

http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nature10854.html