Deep carbon cycle

The deep carbon cycle (or slow carbon cycle) is geochemical cycle (movement) of carbon through the Earth's mantle and core. It forms part of the carbon cycle and is intimately connected to the movement of carbon in the Earth's surface and atmosphere. By returning carbon to the deep Earth, it plays a critical role in maintaining the terrestrial conditions necessary for life to exist. Without it, carbon would accumulate in the atmosphere, reaching extremely high concentrations over long periods of time.^[1]

Because the deep Earth is inaccessible to drilling, not much is conclusively known about the role of carbon in it. Nonetheless, several pieces of evidence—many of which come from laboratory simulations of deep Earth conditions—have indicated mechanisms for the element's movement down into the lower mantle, as well as the forms that carbon takes at the extreme temperatures and pressures of this layer. Furthermore, techniques like seismology have led to greater understanding of the potential presence of carbon in the Earth's core. Studies of the composition of basaltic magma and the flux of carbon dioxide out of volcanoes reveals that the amount of carbon in the mantle is greater than that on the Earth's surface by a factor of one thousand.^[2]