Geochemical Controls on the Generation and Transformation of Carbon in Rocks
A special issue of Minerals (ISSN 2075-163X). This special issue belongs to the section "Mineral Geochemistry and Geochronology".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 26 November 2025 | Viewed by 525
Special Issue Editors
Interests: geobiology; nano-geochemistry; biosignatures; co-evolution of environment and life on early Earth
Interests: thermodynamics; structural geology; mineralogy; petrology
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Carbon-bearing rocks, such as carbonaceous shale, coal, carbonate and graphite-bearing metasedimentary rocks, play a pivotal role in the Earth’s geochemical cycles, which influence various processes; these include the deep carbon cycle, surface weathering, biomineralization, and climate change. These rocks form in a wide range of geological settings, from the high-pressure, high-temperature conditions in the Earth’s mantle to the low-temperature, near-surface environments in sedimentary basins. It is crucial to understand the geochemical factors that control the generation and transformation of carbon in these rocks in order to determine the complex interactions between the lithosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere, and biosphere; this would have significant implications for the search of potential life and habitable environments on early Earth and beyond. This Special Issue aims to compile recent research on the formation, stability, and transformation of carbon in rocks under various geochemical conditions.
This Special Issue thus welcomes the submission of original contributions that explore the geochemical factors governing the generation and transformation of carbon in rocks, including but not limited to, the following: (1) the mineralogy and geochemistry of carbon-bearing rocks; (2) carbon isotope systematics in carbon-bearing rocks; (3) kinetic controls on the formation and growth of carbon-bearing rocks in Earth’s multi-sphere system; (4) biotic and abiotic processes in the generation and transformation of carbon in rocks; (5) the role of carbon-bearing minerals in deep-surface carbon cycling and climate change on Earth; (6) mineral phase transformations and carbon sequestration during carbon storage processes; (7) mineral evolution and environmental geochemical responses in coal and organic matter systems; and (8) advances in analytical techniques for the in situ and high-resolution analysis of carbon-bearing rocks.
Dr. Zixiao Guo
Prof. Dr. Glenn Stracher
Dr. Yu Zhang
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
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Keywords
- metasedimentary rocks
- coal including coal fires
- carbonaceous shale
- carbonate
- carbon isotope systematics
- origin and evolution of life
- global carbon cycling
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