Discussion Questions

1. If volcanism was to increase over thousands of years, how would atmospheric CO2 concentrations change? Why?

2. If the oxidation of organic carbon was to increase, how would global temperatures respond? Why?

3. If the silicate to carbonate conversion process was to increase over a period of millions of years, how would this affect volcanism? Why?

4. If the global temperature were to increase significantly for some reason, how would the silicate to carbonate conversion process change? Why?

5. How would atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations change as a result of #4? Why?

6. What type of feedback do the combined processes of #4-5 represent? Why?