movement of carbon

Question 1

what is net sink v store

Answer 1

more enters than leaves

more leaves than enters

Question 2

animals role in carbon cycle

Answer 2

take in carbon compunds by eat animals or vegetation
die and decompose releasing co2

take in by photosynthesis
release by respiration

Question 3

rocks involvement in carbon

Answer 3

• carbon in atmosphere dissolves into ocean water forming carbonic acid
• forms calcium carbonate which is used in shells etc
• orgs die and fall bottom ocean
• sediment on top
• compress to sedimentary limestone

-pushed deeper into earth (subduction)
higher pressure
deformation
metamorphic rock

pushed deeper
hotter
melts
resurface and crystalise
igneous rock

also released in volcanic eruption (200mill tonnes/yr)

weathered and carbon is carried back to ocean again

millions of years

Question 4

physical pump

Answer 4

movement carbon dioxide from atmosphere into ocean by diffusion

Carbon dioxide dissolved in ocean surface transferred to deep ocean area where cold dense surface waters sink

Downwelling carries carbon to depths where remain centuries

Carbon dioxide diffusion determines acidity oceans

Question 5

biological pump

Answer 5

Phytoplankton absorb carbon dioxide by photosynthesis

They form bottom of marine food web and live in ocean’s surface layer

Phytoplankton consumed by other organisms, so carbon transported along food chain

Organic carbon then transferred to deep ocean when dead organisms sink to ocean floor

Question 6

store =

Answer 6

total amount of material held within a system. (Measured in mass)

Question 7

flux =

Answer 7

measurement rate of flow of material between stores. (Pg per year)

Question 8

anthropogenic carbon fact

Answer 8

24% of this absorbed by ocean

26% of this taken in by plants

50% remains atmosphere

10% driven by land use change

Question 9

global co2 fact

Answer 9

increased less than 320ppm in 1960 to 400ppm now

Question 10

local scale - plant

Answer 10

Carbon transferred to soil by decomposition of litter and root cell respiration and death

Carbon released to atmosphere by respiration of plants producing co2 and the decomposers respiring

Leaf litter burnt carbon would enter the atmosphere instead of seeping into the soil
more ends up in atmosphere
some left behind in ash which will then go into soil which fertilises soil with carbon

Trees are important carbon sinks as they take in carbon for photosynthesis from air and do not release much apart from the product of respiration (co2) therefore making it a sink. Take in more than release