MACENO, Evald

Graduate Student at UPR

September 9, 2015

Coastal Environment CIAM 6117

Professor: Loratta Roberson, P.h.D

Outline What is carbon?

Physical and chemical properties

Carbon as cycle

Major reservoirs of carbon on the earth

Components of carbon cycle

Carbon distribution

How carbon gets in the ocean

Exchange process between the ocean and the atmosphre

Mechanisms of carbon into the ocean

Sequestration of carbon in the ocean

Unexpected impact of human in the carbon cycle

Effect of changing the carbon cycle

Consequences and acidification of the ocean

Discussion

References

What is carbon?

An element

It has 6 as atomic number and 12.01115 as atomic mass

It’s a latin word « carbo » meaning coal or charcoal

Natural abundant non-metallic element that occurs in

many inorganic and all organic coumpounds

Physical and chemical properties of

carbon Melting Point: 3500.0 °C (3773.15 K, 6332.0 °F)

Boiling point : 4827.0 °C (5100.15 K, 8720.6 °F)

Density: 2.26 gram per cubic centimeter

C as chemical formula

Oxidation when it combines with 02 to produce CO2 and

CO

Reactiviy

Compounds: several million of compounds are known

Ability to make long strings, or chains of atoms

Carbon as a cycle

Carbon is transported through different component in our

environment

Carbon is transported between living and non-living

components during the cycle

Carbon cycle is considered as a biogeochemical cycle

when carbon is moving different components involve like:

biological interactions, geological activities and chemical

reactions

Carbon is a vital nutients: fat, carbohydrates, proteins and

nucleic acid.

Reservoirs of carbon on the earth Carbon is found in several areas:

Atmosphere ( CH4 and CO2)

Biosphere (living and dead organisms)

Lithosphere ( soil an rocks)

Hydrosphere( oceans, rivers and lakes)

Major stores of carbon on the earthSink Amount in billons of Metric tons

Atmosphere 578 (as of 1700)- 766(as of 1999)

Soil organic matter 1500 to 1600

Ocean 38,000 to 40,000

Marine sediments and sedimentaryRocks

66,000,000 to 100,000,000

Terrestrial Plants 540 to 610

Fossil Fuel Deposits 4000

: caserc.carleton.edu

Atmosphere

Surface Ocean

Deep Ocean

Sediments

CO2CO2

CO2

∆pCO2 > 0

(primarily upwelling

regions)

∆pCO2 < 0

(primarily high latitudes)

CO2 + CO32- + H2O 2HCO3

-

Upwelling

and vertical mixing

Sinking particulate

organic matter

(“biological pump”)

CO2 + H2O Organic Matter + O2

CO2 + CO32- + H2O 2HCO3

-

CO2 + H2O Organic Matter + O2

Ca2+ + 2HCO32- CaCO3 + CO2 + H2O

CO2

HCO3-

Bottom water formation

(high latitudes)

(“solubility pump”)

Ca2+ + 2HCO32- CaCO3 + CO2 + H2O

CO2 + H2O Organic Matter + O2

Oceans are largest “active” reservoir in the carbon cycle – primarily DIC

The components of the carbon

cycle

carbon distribution in the ocean

The ocean carbon cycle. Image credit: Oak Ridge National Laboratory

How carbon gets in the ocean

First ,CO2 gets in the ocean by diffusing intothe sea surface waters and dissolving

Chemical process

the process depends on variables: wind, temperature of the water, sea surface mixingand co2 concentration AaAverage monthly co2 flux

http://serc.carleton.edu/eslabs/carbon/6a.html

Atmosphere – Ocean Exchange Processes

12

When CO2 enters sea water, the following chemical reactions take place:

CO2 dissolves in water

Carbonic acid

dissociates into ions

Bicarbonate dissociates

Net Reaction

Carbon thus occurs as several species in seawater:

CO2 gas, H2CO3, HCO3-, and CO3

2-

)(3222

aqCOHOHCO

acidcarbonicliquidgas

332

HCOHCOH

ebicarbonationhydrogenacidcarbonic

323

HCOHCO

ebicarbonationhydrogencarbonate

323)(22 2HCOCOCOOH gas

Carbon gets into the ocean in three

mechanisms

The Physical carbon pump

Biological carbon pump

The Carbonate pump

The physical carbon pump Downwelling current

occur in cold and water

sink and bring dissolved

CO2 into deep ocean

Upwelling bring deep cold

ocean water to the surface

Dessolved can be released

to the atmosphere

http://serc.carleton.edu/eslabs/carbon/6a.html

Biological carbon pump Transforming carbon

compound into news forms of carboncompounds

Moving carbonthroughout the ocean

Source of oxygen

Simplified oceanic biological pump. Credit: TERC

The carbonate pump

Transport carbon down to

deep ocean sediments.

Facilitate shell-building by

organisms.

Ocean carbonate chemistry system

http://serc.carleton.edu/eslabs/carbon/6a.html

Sequestration of carbon in the ocean

Three mains process to capture atmospheric carbon

dioxide (CO2) such as:

Biological process

Physical process

Chemical process

Biological sequestration of carbonin the ocean

Phytoplankton Biological pump

International weekly journal of science

How the process is happened Biological pump

Phytoplankton as marine plant float in the photic zone for

photosyntesis

They use photosynthesis to create their own food

Some species of fish and zooplankton eat phytoplanktons

Those organisms release carbon dioxide back to the water

and the atmosphere

Dead phytoplankton go into sediment

Chemical sequestration of

carbon in the ocean

The process is done in form of mineral carbonation or

mineral sequestration.

Calcite crystal from the sweetwater, Mine Vilburnum

Trend District

Unexpected impact of human on the

carbon cycle According to the scientific resaerch made by Earth

Observatory/NASA, people have a serious impact in the

carbon cycle.

Burning fossil fuels

Land use

Deforestation

Effect of changing the carbon cycle

Ocean and plants have taken up 55% of the extra carbon

people put into the atmosphere

The rest of 45% stays in the atmosphere

Impact each reservoir

Warm the planet

Make the ocean more acid putting marine life in danger

NASA/earth observatory/article

Consequences according to NASA

article Earth temperature will increase at least another 0.6

degrees celicius( degree fahrenheit)

Since 1750, the pH of the ocean’s surface is dropped to

0.1 to 30 percent change to in acidity.

Warmer oceans

Marine animals will have trouble to build their shell.

Effects of Changing the Carbon Cycle/ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov

Ocean acidification

Sources: skeptical science

Sssssssssssss

Annual variations in atmospheric co2, oceanic co2, and ocean surface pH.

Discussion questions

Why is the ocean carbon cycle important to study? What is theresponse time?

How is the ocean carbon cycle affected by the climate change?

How do anthropogenic activities affect the whole global carboncycle?

How does the ocean carbon cycle compare with the terrestrialcarbon cycle?

Do we think CO2 emission is significant in Porto Rico today?

Will local changes in anthropogenic inputs impact the globalcarbon cycle? Is there a local cycle?

Who is responsible for doing this important work - individuals,businesses, research institutions, governments, or........all of us?

references

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oceanic_carbon_cycle http://climatica.org.uk/climate-science-information/carbon-cycle http://www.indiana.edu/~geol105b/1425chap8.htm http://serc.carleton.edu/eslabs/carbon/6a.html https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_sequestration http://jrscience.wcp.muohio.edu/climate_projects_05/productivity/ph

ytoplankton.html http://science.nasa.gov/earth-science/oceanography/ocean-earth-

system/ocean-carbon-cycle https://skepticalscience.com/ocean-acidification-global-warming-

intermediate.htm https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbonate_minerals http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/CarbonCycle/page5.php