1.3- Global Distribution And Size Of Major Carbon Stores Flashcards

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1
Q

Carbon takes different forms according to state:

A
  • in solid form, carbon is combined with other elements and is stored within living things, in the minerals of rocks and soil and frozen in ice- graphite (pencil lead) and diamond are pure solid forms of carbon
  • in liquid form, carbon is dissolved in water in the form of carbonic acid and dissolved organic carbon- liquid pure carbon is very unusual
  • in gaseous form, carbon combines with oxygen to form carbon dioxide and other elements to form gases such as methane, a very powerful greenhouse gas
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2
Q

Carbon cycle is the complex process carbon undergoes as it is transformed from

A

Organic carbon (form found in living organism such as plants and trees) to inorganic carbon and back again

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3
Q

What are the main stores of carbon?

A
  • lithosphere = biggest store of carbon
  • hydrosphere
  • biosphere
  • cryosphere
  • atmosphere
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4
Q

Carbon in the lithosphere is distributed between these stores:

A
  • marine sediments and sedimentary rocks may contain up to 100 million GtC
  • fossil fuel deposits of coal, oil and gas
  • soil organic matter
  • peat
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5
Q

Regarding the hydrosphere, attempts to collate measurements of the amount of carbon in the oceans have been made by

A

The Global Ocean Data Analysis Project using data from research ships; there is some variation in the results and figures can only be an approximation)

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6
Q

The oceanic stores can be divided into three:

A
  • the surface layer= where sunlight penetrates so that photosynthesis can occur
  • the intermediate and the deep layer of water
  • living organic matter too (fish, plankton, bacteria etc)
    = total for oceanic carbon up to 40,000 GtC
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7
Q

Regarding the hydrosphere, when organisms die, their shells and other parts sink into deep water. Decay releases

A
  • carbon dioxide into this deep water
  • some material sinks right to the bottom where it forms layers of carbon-rich sediments
  • over millions of years, chemical and physical processes may turn these sediments into rocks
  • this part of the carbon cycle can lock up carbon for millions of years
  • it is estimated that this sedimentary layer could store up to 100 million GtC
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8
Q

The total amount of carbon stored in the terrestrial biosphere has been estimated to be

A

Approx 3000 GtC- the distribution of this carbon depends upon the ecosystem

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9
Q

What are the main stores of carbon in the terrestrial biosphere?

A
  • living vegetation
  • plant litter
  • soil humus
  • peat
  • animals
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10
Q

Explain carbon content of living vegetation

A
  • at the global level, 20% of carbon in Earth’s biosphere is stored in plants
  • and the Amazon basin, which contains about 20%
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11
Q

What is plant litter?

A

This is defined as fresh, undecomposed, and easily recognisable plant debris

  • the type of litter is directly affected by the type of ecosystem
  • in grasslands, there is very little above ground perennial tissue so the annual fall of litter is very low
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12
Q

What is soil humus?

A
  • originates from litter decomposition

- it gets dispersed throughout the soil by soil organisms such as earthworms

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13
Q

What is peat?

A

The accumulation of partially decayed vegetation or organic matter unique to natural areas called peatlands

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14
Q

Animals play a small role in the storage of carbon. They are however very important

A

In the generation of movement of carbon through the carbon cycle

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15
Q

Carbon dioxide is less than 1% of the composition of the Earth’s

A

Atmosphere…but it’s really important

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16
Q

when carbon dioxide reacts with water vapour it creates

A

Carbonic acid which means rain is slightly acidic, creating weathering (rain can also become more acidic as more carbon dioxide enters the atmosphere)

17
Q

Apart from carbon dioxide, ______ is another gas which is a compound of carbon and hydrogen- it is a product of biological decomposition and like carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas

A

Methane

18
Q

Regarding the distribution of carbon where are 3 main examples?

A
  • tropical and subtropical forests e.g. Brazil and Colombia, South America
  • Boteal forest in Canada
  • Antarctic tundra
19
Q

Regarding distribution of oil where are the 3 main sources?

A

1- Saudi Arabia
2- Canada
3- Venezuela

20
Q

Stores of carbon can either be

A

Sinks or source

21
Q

What is a carbon sink?

A

Absorbs more carbon than they release

22
Q

What is a carbon source?

A

Release more carbon than they absorb

23
Q

Regarding cryospheric storage,the majority of carbon is stored in

A

Permafrost of the tundra regions where some plant and life dies live, but on their death, it is frozen preventing decomposition and means the carbon is not released back into the atmosphere

24
Q

Mauna Loa Observstory have found that the global annual mean concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has increased markedly since

A

The industrial revolution = this increase is largely attributed to human derived i.e. anthropogenic sources, particularly the burning of fossil fuels and deforestation

25
Q

A graph of the change of the global annual mean concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has been named after the scientist who first started this research; it is called the

A

Keeling curve

26
Q

Keeling was one of the first scientists to gather evidence that linked

A

Fossil fuel emissions to rising levels of carbon dioxide

27
Q

Keeling’s research has been backed up by

A

Other readings from around the world; for example, the carbon dioxide trapped in ice caps from Antarctica and Greenland can be used to give a ‘proxy’ measure of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere at the time that snow was laid down