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Explosive volcanic eruptions can act as carbon sinks

Author

Listed:
  • Pierre Delmelle

    (UCLouvain)

  • Sébastien Biass

    (University of Geneva)

  • Mathilde Paque

    (UCLouvain)

  • Benjamin Lobet

    (UCLouvain)

Abstract

Volcanic soils, covering only ~1% of the Earth’s land, store over 5% of the global soil organic C stock. The frequent burial of these soils by tephra fallout from explosive volcanic eruptions is a critical but poorly quantified C storage process in soils from volcanically active regions. Using field measurements, we demonstrate that single eruptions can bury substantial amounts of stable organic carbon in soils. We develop a modelling framework and estimate that, in Ecuador alone, at least 1.1 Pg C has been stored in volcanic soils repeatedly affected by tephra deposition during the Holocene. This stock of tephra-buried soil organic carbon exceeds the cumulative CO2 emissions from the source eruptions. Here, we show that explosive volcanism, through the repeated burial of organic C in volcanic soils, acts as a significant regional C sink over time, ultimately averaging to net C-negative events.

Suggested Citation

  • Pierre Delmelle & Sébastien Biass & Mathilde Paque & Benjamin Lobet, 2025. "Explosive volcanic eruptions can act as carbon sinks," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 16(1), pages 1-8, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:16:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-025-59692-4
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-59692-4
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