Unit 3: The Carbon Cycle

Carbon

An element that is in all living things, or things that were once living. It's referred to as the "building block of life"

Carbon Cycle

The organic circulation of carbon between living (biotic) and nonliving (abiotic) parts of an ecosystem.

Atmosphere

A thin layer of gases surrounding Earth.

Biological Carbon Cycle

The movement of carbon atoms through the living parts of ecosystems.

Photosynthesis

Plants use the sun's energy to change water and carbon dioxide into sugars and Oxygen. (Process 2)

Respiration

A process when living organisms exhale carbon dioxide as a waste product of cellular respiration (Process 3 & 4)

Combustion

Burning a substance as a fuel (wood, fossil fuels) releases CO2 into the atmosphere. (Process 1)

Fossil Fuels

Coal, oil, natural gas, and other fuels that are ancient remains of plants and animals.

Carbon is transferred to the organism that is consuming the other.

What happens to carbon when one organism eats another organism. (Process 5)

Decomposition

The breakdown of dead matter and wastes into simple compounds that can be directed back into the natural cycle of living things. (Process 6 & 7)

Carbon Dioxide

CO2

Glucose

C6H12O6

Carbonic Acid

H2CO3

Coal

a combustible black or dark brown rock made from dead plants and animals that once lived on land.

Crude Oil (petroleum)

A highly flammable fossil fuel formed by the decayed remains of ancient organisms

Proteins, carbohydrates, lipids, Nucleic Acids (DNA and RNA)

Carbon is found in which four macromolecules necessary for life?

Soil Respiration

When terrestrial microbial communities release CO2 back into the atmosphere (Process 8)

Geological Carbon Cycle

The movement of carbon atoms through the geosphere, atmosphere and hydrosphere.

Chemical Weathering

The process that breaks down rock through chemical changes. Ex carbonic acid from rain dissolving rocks on the Earth's surface

Sedimentation

the action or process of forming or depositing sediment

Subduction

The process by which oceanic crust sinks beneath a deep-ocean trench, melting carbonic rock.

Volcanic Activity

the formation and eruption of volcanoes which returns carbon dioxide back to the atmosphere.