Scientists from Nanjing University in China and USC has discovered evidence showing that geologic carbon dioxide cycle is important in maintaining Earth's habitable temperatures.

According to the researchers, these geologic cycles are natural climate regulators and their absorption of carbon dioxide contributes greatly into keeping the planet's ideal temperatures.

This geologic cycle starts every time "fresh" rock is being moved into the surface through the movements associated with mountain formation. This fresh batch of rock will absorb all greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. However, if this process is not regulated, there will be no carbon dioxide left in the atmosphere and the Earth will experience a perpetual winter.

To prevent that from happening, volcanoes produce carbon dioxide but this is rarely enough to cancel out the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) soaked up by the fresh rock. The researchers found out that the fresh rock produced by the uplift also produces carbon dioxide themselves, and they emit these carbons through the weathering process.

"Our presence on Earth is dependent upon this carbon cycle. This is why life is able to survive," lead author of the study doctoral fellow at the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, and fellow at the Center for Dark Energy Biosphere Investigations (C-DEBI), Mark Torres said in a press release.

Torres and his team began investigating the role of these geologic cycles in regulating carbon dioxide when they observed that pyrite, a mineral called "fool's gold" releases CO2 during its chemical breakdown process. Analyzing the data from records of the carbon cycle, they developed a model reconstructing the balance of CO2 emissions catalyzed by the formation of mountain ranges. They concluded that the formation of mountains and the natural weathering process has played a huge role in regulating CO2 amounts in our atmosphere.

Although CO2 emissions from man-made sources have significantly increased the CO2 levels in our atmosphere, the researchers noted that this geologic cycle has been regulating temperatures for millions of years.

This study was published in the March 20 issue of Nature.