Upload
neal-allison
View
222
Download
0
Tags:
Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
The Carbon Cycle
BC Science Probe 10Section 4.2
The Carbon Cycle
• The diagram of the carbon cycle looks very complicated, but you only need to understand how it works.
• You don’t need to memorize it!
The Carbon Cycle
• The way the carbon cycle works is really quite easy to understand as it is mostly common sense.
• You only really need to know the meanings of some basic terms:
The Carbon Cycle
• Carbon source:• Any source of carbon that releases more carbon than it
stores.
• i.e.– Burning fossil fuels – coal, oil, natural gas– Burning trees/wood – Erupting volcanoes
The Carbon Cycle
• Carbon reservoir:– Any place where carbon is stored and not
released.• i.e.– Living trees – the carbon is stored as
carbohydrates.– Oceans – dissolved carbon from the atmosphere.– Shells of marine organisms as CaCo3.
– Limestone as CaCo3.
The Carbon Cycle
• Carbon sink:– A place where more carbon is stored than is
released (the opposite of a carbon source).• i.e.– Forests– Oceans– Soil – in organic matter.
The Carbon Cycle
• Atmospheric carbon:– Carbon found in the form of CO2 gas in the
atmosphere after being released by a carbon source.
• i.e.– Combustion– Volcanoes– Cellular respiration
How the Carbon Cycle Works
• How does carbon from the earth become atmospheric carbon dioxide?– From:• Factories• Cars• Cellular respiration• Burning wood
How the Carbon Cycle Works
• How is some of this atmospheric carbon returned back to the earth?– By:• Some dissolves in oceans, lakes and rivers.• Some used by plants for photosynthesis.
How the Carbon Cycle Works
• How is some of this atmospheric carbon returned to the oceans?– By:• Weathering of rocks like limestone.• Dissolves as CO2.
How the Carbon Cycle Works
• How does some of this carbon on the surface of the earth become buried deep beneath the earth?– By:• Dead plants and animals decompose and
become covered in layers of earth.• Carbon compounds are compacted and turned
into fossil fuels.
How the Carbon Cycle Works
• How does the carbon stored in the depths of oceans and lakes become buried deep beneath these bodies of water?– By:• Aquatic plants and animals die and fall to the
bottom to be buried in sediments (sedimentation).
How the Carbon Cycle Works
• How might this buried carbon be returned back to the surface of the earth?– By:• Geological events:–Earthquakes–Volcanoes
• Drilling and mining of fossil fuels.
The Greenhouse Effect
The Greenhouse Effect