Research findings by Director Yuji Sano and his team at Marine Core Research Institute（MaCRI） have been published in *Science Bulletin*, the journal of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
Release Date:
Marine Core Research Institute（MaCRI）Director Yuji Sano, together with Associate Professor Maoliang Zhang of Tianjin University in China and Assistant Professor Wei Liu of Inner Mongolia University of Science and Technology, conducted detailed observations of carbon dioxide emissions of deep-seated origin in the Himalayan-Tibetan orogenic belt.
As a result, they revealed for the first time worldwide that the amount of CO₂ emitted from large-scale uplift zones (collision zones) without volcanoes reaches approximately 36.8 million metric tons per year, a scale comparable to that of Quaternary volcanic regions such as mid-ocean ridges and subduction zones, or the East African Rift Valley.
[Key Findings of This Study]
- Research on the carbon cycle at the Earth's surface—including the atmosphere-ocean interface—in relation to global warming is advancing. On the other hand, there are still many unknowns regarding the carbon cycle extending to the mantle, which originates in the Earth's depths.
- While there are reported cases of carbon dioxide emissions in regions with active Quaternary volcanic activity—such as mid-ocean ridges, subduction zones, and hotspots—there are no known studies of such emissions in large-scale orogenic belts where continental plates converge.
- In the Himalayan-Tibetan orogenic belt, formed by the collision of India and Asia, researchers observed carbon dioxide emissions and found that they rival those of Quaternary volcanic belts.
The findings of this study were published in the Chinese Academy of Sciences journal *Science Bulletin* on February 15.
[Paper Information]
Published in: Science Bulletin
URL: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2095927325009958?via%3Dihub
Title: Extensional rifts release substantial amounts of deep-source CO2 from the Himalayan-Tibetan orogen
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scib.2025.09.055
Authors: Maoliang Zhang, Yi Liua, Wei Liu, Xian-Gang Xie, Yuji Sano, Yun-Chao Lang, Sheng Xu, Cong-Qiang Liu