1.4 Carbon Cycle

Vocabulary flashcards covering key concepts, reservoirs, processes, and anthropogenic impacts involved in the carbon cycle based on AP Environmental Science topic 1.4.

Carbon Cycle

The movement of atoms and molecules containing the element carbon (such as $\text{CO}_2$, glucose, and $\text{CH}_4$) between sources and sinks.

Carbon Sink

A carbon reservoir that stores more carbon than it releases, such as the ocean (algae and sediments), plants, and soil.

Carbon Source

Any process or reservoir that releases carbon into the atmosphere, including fossil fuel combustion, animal agriculture, and deforestation.

Glucose

The biological form of carbon ($C_6H_{12}O_6$) and stored chemical energy in the form of sugar produced during photosynthesis.

Photosynthesis

A process performed by plants, algae, and phytoplankton that removes $\text{CO}_2$ from the atmosphere and oceans to convert it into glucose and oxygen ($\text{O}_2$).

Cellular Respiration

A process performed by organisms that uses oxygen ($\text{O}_2$) to break down glucose and release energy, returning carbon dioxide ($\text{CO}_2$) to the atmosphere or water.

Direct Exchange

The rapid, balanced process in which $\text{CO}_2$ moves directly between the atmosphere and the ocean surface by dissolving into and out of ocean water.

Ocean Acidification

An environmental outcome where increasing atmospheric $\text{CO}_2$ levels lead to increased dissolved $\text{CO}_2$ in ocean water via direct exchange.

Sedimentation

The process where calcium carbonate from marine organisms and shelled corals precipitates out and settles as sediment on the ocean floor.

Burial

A slow geological process in which carbon-containing sediments or organic matter are compressed over long periods by overlying rock layers or water into sedimentary rock or fossil fuels.

Fossil Fuels

Energy sources including coal, oil, and natural gas formed over millions of years from the buried remains of organic matter such as dead ferns, marine algae, and plankton.

Extraction and Combustion

The human process of digging up or mining fossil fuels and burning them for energy, which rapidly transfers carbon stored for millions of years into atmospheric $\text{CO}_2$.