Carbon Cycle Atmosphere Biosphere Hydrosphere Lithosphere Carbon Cycle

Carbon Cycle

Atmosphere Biosphere Hydrosphere Lithosphere

Carbon Cycle • a description of how carbon is moving through Earth’s Systems • this movement of carbon includes living things as carbon-based molecules provide the basis for the structure of every living thing

Earth’s Systems • just like in the water cycle, Earth’s systems serve as temporary stores of carbon until is moves on to a new system 1. 2. 3. 4. Hydrosphere Lithosphere Biosphere Atmosphere

Earth Systems

Atmosphere Biosphere Hydrosphere Lithosphere

1. Hydrosphere • Earth’s surface water can primarily store carbon in the form of carbonic acid (H 2 CO 3) – when carbonic acid levels get high, the p. H of the water drops

1. Hydrosphere • In a lab experiment, a sea butterfly (pteropod) shell placed in seawater with increased acidity slowly dissolves over 45 days. • Credit: Courtesy of David Littschwager/National Geographic Society

1. Hydrosphere • Low p. H levels kill coral. Coral provide habitats for many other oceandwelling species.

2. Lithosphere • many of Earth’s sedimentary rocks have large amounts of carbon

2. Lithosphere • fossil fuels buried in the Earth also contain large amounts of carbon

3. Biosphere • all living things are made of molecules made of carbon • recently dead living things also make up the soil on the surface of the earth

4. Atmosphere • most of the carbon in the air is in the form of carbon dioxide (CO 2)

4. Atmosphere • carbon dioxide levels have been steadily increasing due to increased combustion of fossil fuels

4. Atmosphere Graph of atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration vs. mean global temperature during the past 1, 000 years.

Atmosphere Biosphere Hydrosphere Lithosphere

Carbon Transition Processes • carbon has many ways of moving between earth’s systems • there is no specific order to this movement 1. Burning 2. CO 2 Exchange 3. Decay 4. Deep circulation 5. Extraction 6. Organic Consumption 7. Photosynthesis 8. Respiration 9. Rock formation 10. Run-off

Atmosphere Biosphere Hydrosphere Lithosphere

1. Burning • when organic materials burn, carbon dioxide is released into the air – Examples of organic materials include wood and fossil fuels

Atmosphere Biosphere Hydrosphere Lithosphere

2. Carbon Dioxide Exchange • when CO 2 levels increase in the air, more CO 2 will dissolve into the ocean – when CO 2 levels decrease in the air, more CO 2 will dissolve out of the ocean

4. Atmosphere • Carbon dioxide levels have been steadily increasing due to increased combustion of fossil fuels

2. Carbon Dioxide Exchange • when CO 2 levels increase in the air, more CO 2 will dissolve into the ocean – when CO 2 levels decrease in the air, more CO 2 will dissolve out of the ocean • when carbon dioxide dissolves in water it forms carbonic acid

Atmosphere Biosphere Hydrosphere Lithosphere

3. Decay • when living things die, their tissues breakdown and release CO 2 into the air – methane (CH 4) is also released but in much smaller amounts than CO 2

4. Deep Circulation • some carbon from phytoplankton sinks into deep ocean currents and might not return to the surface for hundreds of years

4. Deep Circulation • some carbon from phytoplankton is carried into deep ocean currents and might not return to the surface for hundreds of years – phytoplankton – small, plant-like organisms

Atmosphere Biosphere Hydrosphere Lithosphere

5. Extraction • bringing buried fossil fuels to the surface – most fossil fuels have been buried for millions of years

Atmosphere Biosphere Hydrosphere Lithosphere

6. Organic Consumption • when one organism consumes (eats) another organism, carbon remains in the biosphere

Atmosphere Biosphere Hydrosphere Lithosphere

7. Photosynthesis • plants, some protists, and some bacteria take CO 2 out of the air and use it to make their body parts and to make sugar food

Atmosphere Biosphere Hydrosphere Lithosphere

8. Respiration • when living things use food for chemical energy, they release CO 2 as a waste product

Atmosphere Biosphere Hydrosphere Lithosphere

9. Rock Formation • many sedimentary rocks are made of pieces of formerly living things – many shelled animals make their shell out of calcium carbonate (Ca. CO 3) – sediments containing lots of calcium carbonate(Ca. CO 3) from shells can be turned into rock over millions of years – this rock can be pushed up to form land by tectonic Earth movements

9. Rock Formation • buried organic material can also turn into fossil fuels over long periods of time

Atmosphere Biosphere Hydrosphere Lithosphere

10. Run-off • running liquid water weathers (wears away) the land to form sediment – eventually this sediment reaches the oceans and sinks • run-off also carries organic remains of organisms that have passed away

Atmosphere Biosphere Hydrosphere Lithosphere

Summary • Is the carbon cycle an open system or a closed system on Earth?