Geological CO₂ release in the southern Tibetan Plateau

Abstract

This study uses a combination of field observations coupled with in-situ CO2 flux measurements and helium and carbon isotopic data, to demonstrate the controls on CO2 origins and fluxes in a 400-km-long rift transecting northern Himalaya and southern Tibet. The findings in this study reveal that geophysical and geo-tectonic responses to continental underthrusting could facilitate massive crustal carbon mobilization and emission, making active collisional orogens globally important carbon sources.