Brainscape's Knowledge GenomeTM

Browse over 1 million classes created by top students, professors, publishers, and experts.


See full index

geography > The carbon cycle > Flashcards

The carbon cycle Flashcards

You may prefer our related Brainscape-certified flashcards:
U.S. Geography flashcards World Geography flashcards
1
Q

Name the 4 stores carbon is present in

A

-atmosphere; (as Co2, methane)

-hydrosphere (dissolved CO2)

-lithosphere (as carbonate in limestones, chalk and fossil fuels,)

-biosphere (as carbon atoms in living & dead organisms)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
2
Q

What is the carbon cycle

A

biogeochemical cycle which carbon moves from one sphere to another

-acts as a closed system

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
3
Q

What are fluxes

A

movements of organic compounds through an ecosystem

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
4
Q

Name the 2 components that make up the carbon cycle

A

-stores

-flows/ fluxes

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
5
Q

What are the organic stores and inorganic stores within the lithosphere store

A

organic stores -> litter, organic matter, humic substances found in soil

inorganic stores -> coal, oil, natural gas, oil shale, carbonate-based

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
6
Q

What are the stores within the hydrosphere

A

oceanic stores;
-surface layer (euphotic zone) - 900 GtC
-intermediate (twilight zone) & deep ocean layer
-living organic matter - 30 GtC
-dissolved organic matter - 700 GtC

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
7
Q

Name the 3 states carbon exists in

A

-gas
-organic
-inorganic

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
8
Q

What are carbon fluxes measured in

A

petagrams or gigatonnes of carbon per year.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
9
Q

What does the carbon cycle show

A

how carbon moves from atmopshere through animas, plants & back into atmosphere

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
10
Q

Name the 8 main processes (fluxes) which carbon is transferred around natural states

A

-weathering
-respiration
-precipitation
-decomposition
-volcanic eruptions
-photosynthesis
-combustion
-oceans

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
11
Q

Precipitation and weathering

A

CO2 reacts with moisture in atmosphere to form weak carbonic acid

-carbonation (form of chemical weathering) -> when carbonic acid falls as rain it reacts with calcium carbonate rocks (sedimentary) & dissolves them

-transfers carbon from lithosphere to oceans

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
12
Q

Photosynthesis and respiration

A
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
13
Q

photosynthesis equation

A

co2 + water -> oxygen & glucose

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
14
Q

respiration equation

A

glucose + oxygen -> co2 + water

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
15
Q

Decomposition

A

decomposers break down complex cells and tissues of plants and animals into large biomolecules and then eventually individual atoms

-speed of decomposition is affected by vegetation (deciduous trees)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
16
Q

Biomass combustion

A

combustion of biomass is the burning of living or dead vegattation

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
17
Q

volcanic activity

A

pockets of carbon dioxide exist in the Earth’s crust. Volcanic eruptions and earthquakes can release these gas pockets. Outgassing is the release of gas, previously dissolved, trapped, frozen or absorbed in some material (e.g. rock). It occurs mainly along mid-ocean ridges, subduction zones and at magma hotspots

-subaerial and submarine volcanic eruptions release CO2 from within the earths lithosphere

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
18
Q

oceans

A

cold oceanic water can hold co2 better than warm ocean water

-cold water sinks (downdwelling) and warm water rises (upwelling) therefore you have vertical mixing of water

-co2 dissolves in the oceans from the air by diffusion, it is moved around within a giant carbon pump

-this is called the physical (inorganic pump)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
19
Q

Name the 3 types of oceanic caerbon pump

A

-biological pump ->

-physical pump

-carbonate pump

20
Q

What is phytoplankton

A

microscopic plants and plant-like organisms drifting or floating in the sea/freshwater along with diatoms, protozoa and small crustaceans.

21
Q

Explain the carbon cycle

A

carbon enters atmosphere as CO2 from respiration & combustion

-CO2 is absorbed by producers to make carbohydrates in photosynthesis

-animals feed on plant passing carbon compounds along food chain

-when animals and plants die -> dead organisms are eaten by decomposers & carbon in their bodies is returned to atmosphere as carbon dioxide

22
Q

What is a carbon sink

A

store of carbon which takes greater amount of carbon in than ouit

23
Q

What is a carbon source

A

store of carbon where amount of carbon leaving the store is greater than input

24
Q

What is sequestering

A

natural storage of carbon by physical/ biological processes such as photosynthesis

25
Q

Name the 5 key processes in the carbon cycle

A

-mechanical, chemical, biological weathering

-decomposition

-transportation

-sedimentation

-metamorphosis

26
Q

Explain mechanical weathering in the carbon cycle

A

-breakup of rocks by frost; shattering & exfoliation produces small, easy-to-transport particles

27
Q

Explain chemical weathering in the carbon cycle

A

-breakdown of rocks by carbonic aci in rain -> dissolves carbonate-based rocks

28
Q

Explain biological weathering in the carbon cycle

A

-burrowing animals and the roots of plants can break rocks up

29
Q

Explain decomposition in the carbon cycle

A

plant & animal particles that result from decomposition after death and surface erosion store carbon

30
Q

Geological origins

A

-carbon in limestone and shale

-carbon in fossil fuels

31
Q

carbon in limestone and shale

A
32
Q

carbon fossil fuels

A
33
Q

Describe the process of chemical weathering

A

-water reatcs with atmospheric co2 -> carbonic acid

-this water reaches the surface as rain reacting with surface minerals, dissolving them

-calcium ions transported by rivers from land -> oceans, combine with bicarbonate ions to form calcium carbonate & precipitate out as minerals such as calcite

-deposition & burial turns calcite sediment into limestone

-subduction of sea floor under continental margins by tectonic spreading

-this carbon rises back up and reenters atmosphere as co2

34
Q

What is volcanic outgassing

A

when pockets of co2 that exist in earth’s crust are disturbed by eruptions/ earthquakes -> pulses/ more diffuse fluxes into the atmosphere

35
Q

Name 3 situations where oitgassing occurs

A

-active/ passive volcanic zones

-places with no current volcanic activity

-direct emissions from fractures in the Earth’s crust

36
Q

oceanic sequestering

A
37
Q

What is the carbon cycle pump

A

processes operating in oceans to circulate & store carbon

-theres 3 types; biological, carbonate, physical

38
Q

What is the thermohaline circulation

A

he global system of surface and deep ocean currents driven by temperature and salinity differences between different parts of the ocean

39
Q

Name the 3 types of oceanic carbon pump

A

-biological pumps
-physical pumps
-carbonate pumps

40
Q

Explain the biological pumps

A

-they move co2 from ocean surface to marine plants (phytoplankton) through photosynthesis

-this converts co2 into food for zooplankton (microscopic animals) & their predators

-these release co2 back into water & atmosphere

41
Q

Explain the carbonate pump

A
42
Q

Explain the physical pump

A

move carbon compounds to dif parts of ocean in downwelling & upwelling currents

Downwelling occurs in parts of the ocean where cold, denser water sinks.
These currents bring dissolved co2 down to deep ocean.

Once there, it moves in slow-moving deep ocean currents, staying there for hundreds of years.

Eventually, these deep ocean currents, part of the thermohaline circulation, return to the surface by upwelling.

The cold deep ocean water warms as it rises towards the ocean surface and some of the dissolved carbon dioxide is released back into the atmosphere.

-colder the water, the higher the potential for co2 to be absorbed

43
Q

Explain what occurs in the terrestrial sequestering

A

plants sequester carbon out of atmosphere during photosynthesis

-carbon then enters food chains & nutrients cycles of terrestrial ecosystems

-when amilas consume plant matter -> carbon in plant becomes part of their fat & protein

-respiration by consumer animals returns carbon back to atmosphere

-waste from animals -> eaten by micro-organisms, detritus feeders

-when they die -> remains fall to ground -> carbons released into soil

44
Q

Carbon fluxes within ecosystems vary on 2 timescales

-what are these 2 timescales

A

-diurnally; during day fluxes are positive, from atmosphere to ecosystem
-at night flux is negative -> loss from ecosystem to atmosphere -> due to rspiration not photosynthesis occuring

-seasonally; winter -> co2 increases -> low levels of plant growth
-in spring plants grow -> co2 decreases until autumn.

45
Q

Explain primary producers and consumers within terrestrial stores

A

primary producers -> green plants -> co2 absorbed & convetred into new plant growth during photosynthesis
-as plants grow -> release co2 -> atmosphere -> through respiration

-primary consumers -> bugs, beetles, herbivores -> feed on producers -> return carbon to atmosphere during respiration

geography (55 decks)

Brainscape helps you reach your goals faster, through stronger study habits.
© 2024 Bold Learning Solutions. Terms and Conditions