A South Dakota Mines professor has secured a joint NSF and NERC award to study how carbon is stored and released from deep within Earth's mantle. The research focuses on tiny melt inclusions trapped in ancient crystals to trace carbon isotope behavior, which could improve models of volcanic emissions and long-term climate cycles. Understanding deep Earth carbon movement helps scientists better predict volcanic activity and its effect on atmospheric carbon. The project is a collaboration with the University of Cambridge and targets one of the biggest unknowns in geoscience: how carbon moves between different mantle reservoirs.
