CONTROLS ON SOIL DEVELOPMENT AND CARBON STORAGE ON THE HIGH-STANDING ISLAND OF TAIWAN

High Standing Islands (HSIs) experience extremely rapid physical and chemical weathering, resulting in large inputs of both sediments and solutes into the ocean. This can affect the global carbon cycle by the rapid burial of particulate organic carbon and precipitation of calcium carbonate in the oceans. However, attempts to relate these rates to sources have often suffered due to a lack of soil geochemical data. Furthermore, few studies have attempted to determine a relationship between soil organic carbon content, storage, and sequestration with uplift and erosion rates. The island of Taiwan sits on top of a highly active convergent plate boundary and is characterized by some of the highest uplift and erosion rates recorded to date. This study investigates the role of uplift and erosion rates in various regions of Taiwan and their effect on soil development, carbon storage, and chemical weathering. Runoff and seismicity have been previously shown to play first order controls on physical erosion rates, with other factors such as lithology and anthropogenic activities playing a secondary role. Soil samples were collected from soil pits at three locations that experience varying uplift, lithology, runoff, seismicity, and erosion rates. Soil samples were analyzed for particulate organic and inorganic carbon and particle size. Initial results show uplift rate, lithology, seismicity, and runoff all play roles of varying importance on soil development at different locations throughout the island.