Carbon is one of the most important elements of our planet, and ninety percent of it resides inside Earth's interior. This book summarizes ten years of research by scientists involved in the Deep Carbon Observatory, a global community of 1200 scientists. It is a comprehensive guide to carbon inside Earth, including its quantities, movements, forms, origins, changes over time, and impact on planetary processes. Leading experts from a variety of fields, including geoscience, biology, chemistry, and physics, provide exciting new insights into the interconnected nature of the global carbon cycle, and explain why it matters to the past, present, and future of our planet. With end-of-chapter problems, illustrative infographics, full-color images, and access to online models and datasets, it is a valuable reference for graduate students, researchers, and professional scientists interested in carbon cycling and Earth system science. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.

Winner, 2020 Choice Outstanding Academic Title

Winner, 2021 PROSE Award - Earth Science, Association of American Publishers

‘An outstanding compilation of current knowledge about essentially all aspects of carbon within the Earth. The book results from 10 years of integrated research by an international group of leading scientists representing the fields of geoscience, biology, materials science, physics, and chemistry … The book is well illustrated, has a thorough index, and includes extensive references and classroom questions at the end of each chapter. This is an excellent resource for upper-level students along with professional scientists interested in any aspect of the Earth’s carbon system.’

M. E. McCallum Source: Choice

‘When read as a complete unit, the book is more than the sum of its chapters. What shines through is the truly masterful work done by this collaborative of researchers in producing a text that is at once deeply technical and highly readable, simply yet beautifully presented, logically structured while touching on nearly every field of science and technology.’

Jake Ogata Bernstein Source: American Mineralogist