The Major Stores of Carbon, in depth Flashcards
Where is carbon in the lithosphere distributed?
Marine sediments and sedimentary rocks, soil organic matter, fossil fuel deposits and peat
How much carbon do marine sediments and sedimentary rocks contain?
100 million GtC
How much carbon does organic matter contain?
Between 1,500 and 1,600 GtC
How much carbon do fossil fuel deposits of coal, oil and gas contain?
4,100 GtC
How much carbon does peat (undecayed organic matter) contain?
250 GtC
Where is carbon in the hydrosphere distributed?
The surface layer, the intermediate layer and living organic matter
What is the surface layer in relation to the Hydrosphere?
Where sunlight penetrates so that photosynthesis can take place.
Contains roughly 900 GtC
What is the intermediate zone in relation to the Hydrosphere?
The twilight zone and deep layer of water contain roughly 37,000 GtC
How much carbon does living organic matter contain?
30 GtC and dissolved matter, 700 GtC
What is the total of oceanic carbon?
37,000 - 40,000
What happens when organisms die?
Their dead cells, shells and other parts sink into deep water.
Decay releases carbon dioxide into this deep water and some material sinks right to the bottom, where it forms layers of carbon-rich sediments.
How much carbon is estimated to be locked up in the sedimentary layer?
Throughout millions of year, up to 100 million GtC
What is the biosphere and the total amount of carbon stored in it?
The biosphere is the total sum of all living matter. The total amount of carbon stored is estimated to be 3,170 GtC
What are the main stores in the Biosphere?
Living vegetation, Plant litter, Soil humus, Peat, Animals
Talk about living vegetation in context of the biosphere
19% of carbon in biosphere is stored in living vegetation. Most of this carbon is stored directly in the tissues of the plants.
The amount of carbon in the biomass varies from 35 to 65%.
Estimated that half the carbon in forest occurs in high latitude forests.
What is plant litter?
Fresh, undecomposed, easily recognisable plant debris. Anything from needles, twigs, bark, seeds/nuts
What percentage does leaf litter account for litter in forests,
70%, but litter tends to increase with age.
What is soil humus?
Originates from litter decomposition. humus is a thick brown or black substance that remains after most of the organic litter has decomposed.
How much carbon is stored in soil humus?
In all forests, roughly 31% of carbon is stored in biomass and 69% in the soil.
In tropical forest, roughly 50% is stored in biomass and 50% in the soil.
In total, worlds soils hold 2,500 GtC.
1,550 GtC inorganic or 950 organic.
What is peat?
An accumulation of partially decayed vegetation or organic matter that is unique to natural areas.
Explain the formation of peat.
Peat forms in wetlands or mires, where permanent water saturation obstructs flows of oxygen from the atmosphere into the ground.
This creates low oxygen anaerobic conditions that slow down rates of plant litter decomposition.
Stores more than 250 GtC worldwide.
