Biogeochemical Cycles Flashcards
what is the equation for photosynthesis?
CO2 + H2O = C6 H12 O6 + O2
What is Combustion?
Burning fossil fuels / biomass
What are biogeochemical cycles?
A series of linked processes which use and re-use elements
Why is nitrogen important to animals / humans?
Builds protein and DNA
Where is most of the planets carbon stored?
Carbonate rocks
What uses photosynthesis to store carbon?
Plants / trees
Give one example of a carbonaceous rock?
Limestone
Name 2 carbon stores within the hydrosphere.
Sea animals, Sea plants, sea water, plankton and fossils
What chemical forms of carbon are found in the ocean?
Carbon dioxide and hydrogen carbonate
how much is a Giga tonne
(Gt)?
A billion tonnes
what is leading to an increased concentration of atmospheric CO2
Primarily / mainly combustion
what is leading to an increased atmospheric concentration of methane
livestock and permafrost melting
What is respiration?
A reaction in which animals gain energy by eating sugar and breathing. They then release carbon dioxide and water.
What is photosynthesis
A reaction in which plants use sunlight to breakdown carbon dioxide and water into sugar and oxygen.
What is decomposition?
The breakdown / rotting of dead plant and animal remains. This releases carbon dioxide.
What is the carbon cycle?
The cycling of carbon through the living and non-living world.
What is carbon flow?
When carbon moves from one store/ reservoir to another
What is a Carbon Reservoir?
A place where carbon is stored.
What is the hydrosphere?
The zone covered by water, including seas, lakes and rivers
What is Anthropogenic Carbon Dioxide?
Carbon dioxide generated by human activity
What is a carbon sink?
A store of carbon that absorbs more carbon than it releases
What is Carbon Sequestration?
A natural or artificial process by which carbon dioxide is removed or captured from the atmosphere and held in solid or liquid form
What is the Cryosphere?
Any place on Earth where water is in its solid form / ice
What is Carbonic Acid
A solution produced when carbon dioxide is dissolved in water
What is the equation for Carbonic Acid
H2 CO3
What is aerobic respiration?
Respiration that requires oxygen, release carbon dioxide
What is anaerobic respiration?
Respiration in the absence of oxygen, releases methane
What is Exsolving?
Substances coming out of solution
What is Carbon capture?
Technologies or approaches that remove carbon dioxide from power plant or other emissions, in an effort to mitigate global climate change
What is anthropogenic Carbon storage?
The technique of capturing CO2 from coal or oil fired power plants and burying it deep underground, to keep it out of the atmosphere
What is Burial and compaction?
sediments are compacted due to weight of overlying sediment to form carbonate rock, coal, oil, gas and limestone
What are Food chains?
A series of steps in which organisms transfer energy by eating and being eaten, carbon compounds are also transferred
What is an equilibrium?
a state in which opposing forces or influences are balanced.
What is Flux?
a state of continual change or movement, describes the relative rates of flow of carbon
