ecology- cycles Flashcards
surface water
run-off, moves downhill through stream systems and back to the ocean due to gravity and slope
ground water
enters ground through infiltration and remains there for several hundred years
moves through aquifers
emerges in springs
moves through the biosphere through transpiration
transpiration
water absorbed by the roots of plants then carried through the plant and lost as water vapour through stromates(small pores in the leaves)
five chemical elements required for life
carbon oxygen hydrogen nitrogen phosphorus
short term stores(carbon)
aquatic and terrestrial living organisms
in co2 in the atmosphere
top layers of the ocean
long term stores(carbon)
middle and lower ocean layers as dissolved co2
coal, oil and gas deposits in land and ocean sediments
sedimentation
layers of soil and decomposing organic matter slowly under great pressure becomes coal oil and gas
layers of shells are also deposited in sediments on the ocean floor forming carbonate rocks like limestone
carbon stores alternate name
carbon sinks
carbon types in organic or biological molecules
carbohydrates or sugars
proteins
lipids or fats
the nucleus acids(dna rna atp)
photosynthesis
occurs in plants, cyanobacteria and algae
carbon in atmosphere transformed into carbohydrates
cellular respiration
carbohydrates release energy in consumers
energy used for growth, repair and other cell processes
decomposition
breaks down large quantities of cellulose to glucose
most organisms cannot break down cellulose
ocean processes
co2 dissolves in cold northern waters and sinks
ocean currents flow to tropical water where the water rises and releases co2
this is called ocean mixing
volcanic eruption and fires release?
3 chemicals
co2 methane and carbon monoxide
nitrogen is important in
the structure of dna and proteins
chlorophyll