Carbon release from Large Igneous Province magmas estimated from trace element-gas correlations

Abstract

Large Igneous Provinces (LIPs) facilitate massive transfers of CO₂ and other volatiles from the mantle to atmosphere, contributing to past global warming and environmental disruption. However, the scale and evolution of magmatic CO₂ fluxes during these events remain uncertain due to the tendency of CO₂ to degas deep in magmatic systems. Here we estimate LIP CO2 using an approach based on an observed correlation between gas CO₂/S ratios and trace elements in volcanic rocks. We apply this method to a compilation of published geochemical data for tholeiitic LIP lavas and to a new major and trace element dataset for alkaline rocks from the Siberian Traps. Our results indicate that CO₂/S and therefore CO₂ in tholeiitic and alkaline magma suites from LIPs span 1–2 orders of magnitude, emphasizing that changing CO₂ concentrations can combine with magma flux to drive strong variations in CO₂ release through the evolution of LIP magmatism.