APES 1.4

THE CARBON CYCLE

Fossil fuel combustion is a quick step in the carbon cycle while sedimentation and burial are slow steps, leading to an imbalance in which reservoirs or sinks are storing carbon

Carbon sink: a reservoir that stores more carbon than it releases

Processes that release carbon into the atmosphere:

• Animal agriculture (Ex: cow burps and farts)

• Deforestation

• Cellular respiration

  Direct Exchange: carbon moves directly between atmosphere and the ocean by dissolving into and out of the ocean water at the surface and it happens quickly. This balances levels of carbon between atmosphere and ocean

• Increased carbon levels in the ocean leads to ocean acidification

  Sedimentation: When marine organisms die, their bodies sink to the ocean floor where they’re broken down into sediments that contain carbon

  Burial: over long periods of time, pressure of water compresses carbon containing sediments on ocean floor into sedimentary stone