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A Level Geography > Topic 6 EQ1 > Flashcards

Topic 6 EQ1 Flashcards

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1
Q

Why is the carbon cycle important for maintaining planet health?

A

Regulates climate making it warm enough to survive

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2
Q

Where is carbon stored?

A

Within rocks, plants and oceans

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3
Q

Three types of stores

A

Terrestrial, oceanic and atmospheric stores

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4
Q

What is a flux?

A

Movement or transfer of carbon between stores

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5
Q

What is the geological carbon cycle ?

A

Natural cycle that moves carbon between land ocean and atmosphere.
Involves chemical reactions which trap carbon for significant periods of time.
There tends to be a natural balance between carbon production and absorption

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6
Q

What can cause a disruption to the geological carbon cycle ?

A

Major volcanic eruptions emit large quantities before equilibrium is restored
Natural climate change

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7
Q

What does geological carbon form ?

A

Sedimentary carbonate rocks - limestone and chalk

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8
Q

Examples of carbon formations in the geological carbon cycle

A

CO2 combines with rain to form carbonic acid which reacts with rocks
Carbon is used to form animal shells
Decay in vegetation forms coal strata at the margins of land and sea

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9
Q

How does the atmosphere maintain equilibrium?

A

Chemical weathering process slowly rebalances the carbon cycle.

Emissions from a volcano increases co2 which leads to rising temperatures, increasing evaporation and higher level of moisture. Increases acid rain which weather rocks and creates biocarbonares which eventually get deposited as carbon on the ocean floor

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10
Q

Why is it referred as the bio-geochemical carbon cycle ?

A

Biological and chemical processes determine how much carbon is available.

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11
Q

Why is the role of living organisms important in maintaining the efficient running of the carbon cycle ?

A

Control the overall balance between storage, release, transfer and absorption

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12
Q

4 key processes in the cycle

A

Photosynthesis - removes CO2 to promote plant growth
Respiration- release CO2 as animals consume plant growth and breath
Decomposition- breaking down organic matter releases CO2 into soils
Combustion of biomass and fossil fuels- releases CO2

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13
Q

How many gigatonnes of carbon has been added as a result of burning fossil fuels?

A

180 Gt - small compared to natural concentrations but is enough to trigger climate change

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14
Q

Three forms of carbon

A

Inorganic - found in rocks as bicarbonates and carbonate
Organic - found in plant material
Gaseous - found as CO2 methane and carbon monoxide

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15
Q

Slow flux of carbon

A

Inorganic carbon is released by chemical weathering over decades or hundreds of years

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16
Q

Fast flux of carbon

A

Between the Earths surface , plants and atmosphere are much faster

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17
Q

Quickest cycle of carbon flux

A

In seconds plants take in carbon from the atmosphere through photosynthesis and release it by respiration

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18
Q

What controls the speed of plant fluxes of carbon?

A

Temperature, moisture and sunlight

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19
Q

What are the geographical patterns with CO2 fluxes?

A

Vary with latitude
Levels are always higher in the Northern Hemisphere as it contains greater landmasses and greater temperature variation than in the southern hemisphere .

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20
Q

What is the biological carbon pump?

A

Surface of ocean there’s always an exchange of CO2, some dissolves into water and some is vented out to the air above

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21
Q

How much carbon does the biological carbon transfer each year to the deep ocean?

A

Between 5 and 15 gigatonnes

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22
Q

What are the main drivers of the biological carbon pump?

A

Oceans surface layer of tiny phytoplankton which are similar to plants as they contain chlorophyll and need sunlight to survive . They have shells and sequester CO2 through photosynthesis creating calcium carbonate as there shells develop . When they die the carbon rich microorganisms sink to the ocean floor and remain there as they accumulate sediment.
This is called a carbonate pump

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23
Q

How is the carbonate pump a naturally efficient system ?

A

Phytoplanktons require a vast quantity of nutrients but are supplied by the existing ocean temperatures and currents maintain a constant supply of - upwelling currents of deep nutrient rich water such as THC maintains the pump .

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24
Q

how is the carbonate pump fragile

A

Slight changes in water temperature can alter the flow.
Pollution and turbulence reduce light penetration and slow the pump down.
Vulnerable to climate change

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25
Q

What has happened to the speed of ocean currents?

A

Decreased.
Between the Gulf of Mexico and Europe the speed of ocean circulation has slowed by 30%

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26
Q

Cause of failing ocean currents?

A

Melting arctic ice increases the amount of freshwater entering the North Atlantic
Oceans salinity declined preventing cold water from sinking
North Atlantic was losing its pulling effect as there was nowhere for warm waters of the Gulf Stream to go.

27
Q

What are terrestrial primary producers ?

A

Sequester carbon through the process of photosynthesis.
Land based

28
Q

Primary producers

A

Green plants as they use solar energy to produce biomass. CO2 is absorbed and converted into new plant growth during photosynthesis

29
Q

Primary consumers

A

Organisms that depend and feed on producers and return carbon to the atmosphere during respiration. Biological decomposes.

30
Q

Why are trees important in the carbon cycle ?

A

95% of a trees biomass is made up of from the CO2 that it sequesters and converts into cellulose

31
Q

What is carbon fixation?

A

Turns gaseous carbon into living organic compounds that grow .

32
Q

What does a trees carbon storage depend on?

A

The balance between photosynthesis and respiration

33
Q

What is carbon sequestration ?

A

The removal and storage of carbon from the atmosphere

34
Q

What per cent of global carbon is stores in soils ?

A

20 - 30%

35
Q

What does the sequestering of carbon in soils depend on ?

A

Local conditions

36
Q

What are the two sources of carbon in soils ?

A

Arid and semi arid
Those developed on limestone - contain inorganic carbon

37
Q

How long is carbon stored in dead organic matter for?

A

Decades - centuries in colder climates or wetlands

38
Q

What are humus soils?

A

60% carbon and important for sequestration as well as for water storage .
Dark rich colour
Very long term process

39
Q

Where is carbon cycling and formations most active ?

A

In topsoil horizons

40
Q

Most important in soil

A

From organic sources through plant photosynthesis and subsequent decomposition

41
Q

Why is litter fall and biomass important

A

Any loss to the ground means a transfer from the plant to the soil

42
Q

Where is stabilised carbon located?

A

Deeper soils

43
Q

What is pyrogenic carbonaceous matter?

A

Formed from biomass burned and carbonised during wildfires. Resists microbial decomposition and remain in soils for long periods of time

44
Q

How does climate affect the capacity of soil to store organic carbon?

A

Dictates plant growth and microbial and detritivore activity.
Rapid decomposition occurs at high temperatures or waterlogged conditions
Places with high rainfall have an increased potential carbon storage
Arid soils store 30 tonnes per hectare but in cold regimen it’s 800 tonnes per hectare

45
Q

How does soil type affect the capacity of soil to store organic carbon?

A

Clay rich soils have a high carbon content than sandy soils. Clay protects carbon from decomposition.

46
Q

How does the management and use of soils affect its ability to store carbon

A

Through cultivation and disturbance soils have lost 40-90 Gt of carbon since 1850

47
Q

Tundra soil storage

A

Contain carbon that has been trapped for hundreds of thousands of years.
Microbe activity is only active when the surface layers thaws so the decaying biomass organic material is frozen into an organic store

48
Q

Where are mangrove forests found

A

Along tropical and sub tropical tidal coasts

49
Q

How much do mangroves sequester each year ?

A

1.5 metric tonnes of carbon per hectare

50
Q

What do mangrove soils consist of ?

A

Thick organic layers of leaf litter , humus and peat which contain high levels of carbon

51
Q

What type of soils are mangroves

A

Anaerobic as they submerged below high tides twice a day (without oxygen

52
Q

Characteristics of anaerobic soil

A

Bacteria and microbes can’t survive so decomposition of plant matter is slow . Little of the carbon can be respired back to the atmosphere and the store remains intact.
Plant matter trapped by tree roots tends to stay as it decomposes slowly and remains stored for thousands of years

53
Q

What happens if mangroves are cleared?

A

Carbon is released back to the atmosphere . Throughout the tropical world mangroves are being cleared for tourism, shrimp farms and aqua culture

54
Q

What if just 2% of the world mangroves were lost?

A

The amount of carbon will be 50 times the natural sequestration rate

55
Q

Role of green house gases

A

Absorb and reflect back some of the radiated heat from the Earths surface. By retaining this heat it is enough to sustain life.

56
Q

What is the natural green house effect?

A

The warming of the atmosphere as gases such as CO2 , CH4 and water vapour absorb heat energy radiated from the Earth

57
Q

Why is it difficult for heat energy to escape ?

A

When solar radiation is reflected from the Earths surface it is emitted at a longer radiation which makes it more difficult to travel through denser gases

58
Q

What has caused the enhanced greenhouse effect?

A

Concentrations of several greenhouse gases in the atmosphere have increased by 25% since 1750 when industrialisation and now are increasing at a faster rate than ever

59
Q

Positive feedback of global temperature increases

A

Increases evaporation which increases water vapour in the atmosphere . Greater condensation. Increased cloud cover which traps more heat in the atmosphere

60
Q

Distribution of temperatures around the world

A

Angle of the suns rays males solar insolation intense at the equator but dispersed over a wide area at the poles .
Characteristics of the earths surface - absorption(dark forests) or reflection (albedo-
snow)
Heat is redistributed round the globe by air movement caused by differences in temperature

61
Q

How is precipitation distributed round the world?

A
  • due to intense solar radiation at the equator, convection and low pressure systems dominate and rainfall is high all year.
  • air pressure rises around 30° north and south of the equator , precipitation decreases
  • mid latitudes , air masses of different characteristics meet and low pressure systems bring rain
  • near the poles, precipitation falls as the air cools and is dense and dry
62
Q

Why is carbon vital in soils?

A

Organic material is the medium by which carbon passes through the system and it also supports micro organisms maintaining the nutrient cycle, break down organic matter by providing pore spaces for infiltration and storage of water enhancing plant growth

63
Q

How does stored carbon = healthy soils

A

Healthy soils are porous
Contain organisms - carbon supports microorganisms
Resilient to wetter weather as they enable infiltration and percolation of water - less soil erosion - carbon breaks organic material which increases porosity

64
Q

How do healthy soils = high primary productivity?

A

UK temperate deciduous forest are the second most productive biome due to healthy soils.
Healthy soils sequester and store carbon through organic material which breaks down organic matter creating pore space for infiltration and storage of water

A Level Geography (17 decks)

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