Biogeochemical cycles of carbon
Review the biogeochemical cycles of carbon as well as the concepts of systems, and positive/negative feedback.
Based on your research, answer the following questions:
1.How does carbon move in the environment by geological process, and biotic influences? (2 marks)
2.Explain how positive and negative feedbacks are involved in the pathways found in the carbon cycle and how these may determine concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, in oceans, and in soils. (3 marks)
3.Describe four ways that humans affect this cycle and the consequences to the reservoirs of carbon. (2 marks)
Biogeochemical cycles of carbon
Carbon is an essential element in the bodies of living organisms. It is also economically important to modern humans, in the form of fossil fuels. About 18% of your body consists of carbon atoms, by mass, and those carbon atoms are pretty key to your existence. The geological pathway of the carbon cycle takes much longer than the biological pathway. The level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is influenced by the reservoir of carbon in the oceans and vice versa. On land, carbon is stored in soil as organic carbon from the decomposition of living organisms or as inorganic carbon from weathering of terrestrial rock and minerals. Another way for carbon to enter the atmosphere is by the eruption of volcanoes. Carbon-containing sediments in the ocean floor are taken deep within the Erath in a process called subduction, in which one tectonic plate moves under another. This process forms carbon dioxide, which can be released into the atmosphere by volcanic eruptions or hydrothermal vents.
