Evolution of Carbon Cycle Dynamics: Global Sediment Core Records

Hundreds of deep-sea sediment cores collected since the 1960s are compiled to analyze the global carbon cycle's evolution over geological time. The project focuses on calcium carbonate (CaCO3) burial and dissolution patterns to infer past ocean chemistry, circulation, and biological productivity. This dataset is associated with NERC grant NE/H022554/1 and is provided by the British Geological Survey.

Use Cases

• Modeling past atmospheric CO2 regulation based on calcium carbonate burial and dissolution records.
• Reconstructing ancient ocean chemistry and circulation patterns based on the spatial distribution of sediment core data.
• Analyzing the evolution of marine ecosystems and carbonate-secreting organisms over geological time scales.
• Investigating the causes and consequences of past global warming events based on changes in the sedimentary carbonate balance point.

Strengths

• Compiles records from many hundreds of different sediment cores, suggesting a broad spatial scope.
• Data spans a long temporal range, extending back to before the deposition of the White Cliffs of Dover.
• Focuses on a clear, observable geological feature: the transition between carbonate-rich and carbonate-devoid sediments.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count and file formats are unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.

Provenance

Source

British Geological Survey (BGS)

Collection Method

Compilation of records from sediment cores recovered by drill ships since the 1960s.

Time Range

Extends over hundreds of millions of years, based on the geological record.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-04-09 08:27:07.201367; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Global, covering different ocean basins.