Carbon cycle Flashcards
What are the reservoirs for carbon?
Rocks and sediments
-The Ocean
-Organic materials
-Atmosphere
- fossil fuels
What is blue carbon and why is it significant?
Blue carbon is stored by ocean and coastal ecosystems
due to the presence of photosynthetic algae, the ocean absorbs and stores carbon at a much faster rate than other areas,
carbon is found in ________________, which are large molecules necessary for life. List all four.
Macromolecules
- Proteins,
- Carbohydrates
- Lipids
- Nucleic acids
the main stages include
Photosynthesis
Cellular respiration
Consumption
combustion
decomposition
fossilization
In photosynthesis, ___________________ capture _____ from the atmosphere and use it to make _______
photosynthetic organisms, CO2, Sugars
During Cellular respiration, _______ is released into the atmosphere as __________________
CO2, waste from metabolism
What is consumption (in relation to this cycle)?
When one organism eats another for carbon
_____________ is when CO2 is released into the atmosphere from burning.
Combustion
What is Decomposition? (in relation to this cycle)
When decomposers break down carbon from dead organisms, allowing it to be recycled in the soil.
__________ converts carbon from once-living organisms into a fuel source through intense _____ and _______________.
Fossilization, heat and compression
What are some of the fossil fuels?
Coal, oil, and natural gas
What are the biological components of the carbon cycle?
Decomposers: bacteria and fungi
Photosynthetic organisms: plants and algae
All living organisms, which do cellular respiration
What are the non-biological components of the carbon cycle?
Fossil fuels
geological structures
What is something that sets the carbon cycle apart from other geochemical cycles?
Carbon is involved with cellular respiration which none of the other ones do
