The natural linkages in the organic carbon cycle take place in _________
The short term (exception: fossil fuels, takes longer)
Do all organic molecules contain carbon?
Yes
Name all 8 linkages of the organic carbon cycle
- Life
- Photosynthesis
- Decomposition
- Cellular respiration
- Fossil fuels
- Combustion
- Biological pump
- Calcium carbonate shells
What is photosynthesis?
Process where energy from the sun is used (by plants) to transform CO2 in oxygen and sugars
What is photosynthesis doing in the carbon cycle?
It removes atmospheric carbon dioxide
The conversion of sugars to biological energy called ATP, all life practices it, gaseous CO2 is released as a byproduct (waste) in the atmosphere, the plants release it through pores on leaves
Cellular respiration
The breakdown of complex organic molecules into simpler molecules through the action of living things
Decomposition
What is humus
Organic component of soil, composed of partially decomposed organic molecules, best part of the soil supporting plant growth
Reservoirs of concentrated carbon formed in the ancient geological past from the remains of plant and animal life which didn’t fully decompose
Fossil fuels (long term organic carbon storage in the crust)
First step of fossil fuel formation:
Dead organic matter buried by sedimentation before it can be fully decomposed
Second step of fossil fuel formation:
Increase build-up of sediments=increasing the weight compressing organic matter, moving it deeper within the crust, this increase heat exposure
Third step of fossil fuel formation:
Increasing compression & heat = removing trapped water and gases, transforming larger carbon molecules to smaller ones
Fourth step of fossil fuel formation:
What remains = concentrated carbon with a minority of other elements
Any chemical reaction where the bonding of oxygen results in the release of energy (heat), the main way to derive energy for civilization, contributes to global warming only because the end-product = greenhouse gas (CO2)
Combustion
Highly electronegative element, wanting to grab electrons from other elements
Oxygen
What is the link between forest fire cycles and combustion
The fires balance the carbon lost to combustion with carbon sequestered by photosynthesis for regrowth
What links the ocean life & the carbon cycle
Biological pump, photosynthetic marine life, marine animals
Biological pump
Cycle of photosynthesis, cellular respiration, decomposition, fossil fuel formation taking place in marine habitat
Photosynthetic marine life
These animals use CO2 to produce sugars
Marine animals
Release CO2 during cellular respiration, and decomposition (possible fossil fuel formation)
Shell-forming marine life useful for?
Actively building calcium carbonate during shell formation (dissolving CO2 and Ca2+ in the ocean as a result of acid rain, chemical weathering and the solubility pump)
What can tectonic plates do to calcium carbonate?
It can bring calcium carbonate deposits onto land (because thick mineral deposits of calcium carbonate build up over time)
How does carbon move between surface and deep waters?
Through natural upwelling & downwelling of dissolved CO2 and through movement of living organisms between surface and deeper waters
Large impact of plant life
Seasonal fluctuations
