Major carbon stores

Question 1

a gigatonne of carbon dioxide equivalent is …………..and has units

Answer 1

1,000,000,000 GtC or 1 billion GtC

Question 2

trasnfers (flux) of carbon within the cycle is measured in

Answer 2

Gt of carbon per year (GtC/year)

Question 3

anthropogenic CO2 is

Answer 3

carbon dioxide generated by human activity

Question 4

biosphere is

Answer 4

the total sum of all living matter

Question 5

carbon sequestration is

Answer 5

the capture of carbon dioxide from the atmosphrere or sapturing anthropogenic CO2 from large scale stationary sources like power plants before it is released to the atmosphere. once captured, the co2 gas is put into long term storage

Question 6

carbon sink is

Answer 6

a store of carbon that absorbs more carbon than it releases

Question 7

green house gas is

Answer 7

any gaseous compound in the atmosphere taht is capable of absorbing infrared radiation, thereby trapping and holding heat in the atmosphere

Question 8

lithosphere is

Answer 8

the crust and the uppermost mantle; this constitutes the hard and rigid outer layer of the earth

Question 9

weathering is

Answer 9

the breakdown of rocks in situ by a combination of weather, plants and animals

Question 10

the pedosphere is

Answer 10

the uppermost part of the lithosphere, the layer that chemically reacts to the atmosphere and biosphere through the soil forming soil process

Question 11

carbon is stored in the lithosphere in both…and…forms

Answer 11

inorganic and organic forms

Question 12

inorganic deposits of acrbon in the lithosphere include

Answer 12

fossil fuels and carbon based sedimentary deposits like limestone

Question 13

organic forms of acrbon in the lithosphere include

Answer 13

litter, organic matter, humic substances

Question 14

carbon in the lithosphere is distributed between these stores (4 items) :

Answer 14

marine sediments and sedimentary rocks 100 million GtC
soil organic matter 1,500 GtC
fossil fuels deposits of coal, oil and gas 4,100 GtC
peat (dead but undecayed organic matter found in boggy areas) 250 GtC

Question 15

how many GtC stored in marine sediments and sedimentary rocks?

Answer 15

100 million GtC

Question 16

how many GtC stored in fossil fuels?

Answer 16

4,100 GtC

Question 17

the three ocean stores of carbon are

Answer 17

surface layer (euphotic zone) 900 GtC
intermediate layer (twilight zone) 37,100 GtC
living oranic matter 30GtC and dissolved organic matter 700 GtC

Question 18

the total oceanic carbon is between

Answer 18

37,000 and 40,000 GtC

Question 19

when an ocean organism dies……

Answer 19

its shell and dead cells sink into deep water, where decay releases co2 and some material sinks to the bottom to form layers of carbon rich sediment

Question 20

over millions of years, chemical and physical process turn layers of dead organic matter into

Answer 20

sedimentary rock

Question 21

the total amount of C in the terrestrial biosphere is

Answer 21

3,170 GtC

Question 22

the three largest carbon stores in the biosphere are

Answer 22

boreal forests 26%, tropical forests 20% and temperate grasslands 10%

Question 23

the boreal forests hold………% of carbon in the terrestrial biosphere

Answer 23

26%

Question 24

living vegetation represents a carbon store because

Answer 24

19% of the biospheric carbon store is in plant matter. the amount fo carbon which a plant stores depends on its location and plant type. high latitude forests hold the most carbon

Question 25

plant litter represents a carbon store because

Answer 25

this is the dead matter from an ecostystem, which depends on location and plant species presnt, grassland will have a low plant litter

Question 26

plant litter is

Answer 26

fresh, undecomposed plant debris

Question 27

soil humus is

Answer 27

a thick brown or black substance that originates from litter decomposition and gets dispersed in the soil by organisms such as earthworms

Question 28

soil humus represents a store of carbon in the biosphere because

Answer 28

in all forests, 69% of the carbon is stored in the soil. the world’s soil contains more carbon than vegetation at 2,500 GtC against 1,550 GtC.

Question 29

peat is

Answer 29

the accumulation of partially decayed vegetation or organic matter that is unique to natural areas.

Question 30

peat represents a store of carbon in the biosphere because

Answer 30

the anaerobic conditions in peat bogs prevent complete decomposition, so plant and animal matter does not decay, and an estimated 25GtC is stored in this way, covering 4 million km2 of the planet

Question 31

animals represent a carbon store in the biosphere because

Answer 31

they are important in the generation of movement of carbon through the carbon cycle,, though do not store much carbon

Question 32

around 500 million years ago (Cambrian period), co2 levels were (ppm)

Answer 32

7,000 parts per million

Question 33

for the last 2 million years (Quaternary glaciation), the carbon dioxide levels are at their lowest at

Answer 33

180ppm

Question 34

co2 makes up % of the atmosphere, or ….GtC or….ppm

Answer 34

0.04% or 800GtC or 400 ppm

Question 35

co2 is a potent

Answer 35

greenhouse gas

Question 36

since the industrial revolution, where carbon dioxide atmospheric stores were 280ppm, co2 concentration increased to ..ppm in 2015

Answer 36

400 ppm

Question 37

the Keeling Curve shows

Answer 37

how co2 concentrations have increased

Question 38

the average increase of co2 concentration in the atmosphere is …ppm/year

Answer 38

2 ppm/year