Water and Carbon Cycles- Intro to Carbon Cycle

Question 1

Define carbon stores

Answer 1

The main stores of carbon are the lithosphere, hydrosphere, cryosphere, atmosphere and biosphere

Question 2

Define carbon sink

Answer 2

A store that absorbs more carbon than it releases

Question 3

Define carbon source

Answer 3

A store that releases more carbon than it absorbs

Question 4

Define carbon transfer

Answer 4

Processes that transfer carbon between stores eg. photosynthesis takes carbon out of the atmosphere as CO2 and converts it to carbohydrates such as glucose
Inputs and outputs affect the size of carbon stores

Question 5

Define GtC

Answer 5

A gigatonne of CO2 is used to measure the amount of carbon in stores
1GtC= 1 billion tonnes
Transfer (flux) if carbon within the cycle is measured in gigatonnes per year (GtC/year)

Question 6

Define anthropogenic CO2

Answer 6

Carbon dioxide generated by human activity

Question 7

Define greenhouse gas

Answer 7

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

Question 8

Define lithosphere

Answer 8

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

Question 9

Define weathering

Answer 9

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

Question 10

Define carbon sequestration

Answer 10

The capture of CO2 from the atmosphere or capturing of anthropogenic CO2 from large scale stationary sources (eg. power plants) before it is released into the atmosphere. Once captured it can be put in long term storage