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Letter

Nature Geoscience 1, 370–374 (1 June 2008) | doi:10.1038/ngeo205

Elevated weathering rates in the Rocky Mountains during the Early Eocene Climatic|[nbsp]|Optimum

M. Elliot Smith , Alan R. Carroll & Erich R. Mueller

During the chemical weathering of silicate minerals, atmospheric carbon dioxide is incorporated into carbonate minerals and buried. As the rate of silicate weathering is thought to increase in response to increasing atmospheric CO2 concentrations, this represents an important negative feedback mechanism.