EM

AP Environmental Science Unit 1.4: The Carbon Cycle

Vocabulary

==Overview==

  • Biogeochemical Cycles: Cycles of elements as they move through living and nonliving factors.
  • Reservoirs: Places where elements are stored for part of the time.
  • Pathways: Processes that move the elements between the reservoirs.
  • Biomass: Renewable energy that comes from organic matter/organisms.

==Carbon Cycle==

  • Organic Compounds: Compounds that have carbon-carbon or carbon-hydrogen bonds.
  • Photosynthesis: The process by which plants use sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide to create oxygen and energy in the form of sugar.
  • Cellular Respiration: The process of breakdown of food in cells and organisms with the release of energy.
  • Combustion: Occurs when any organic material is reacted (burned) in the presence of oxygen to give off the products of carbon dioxide, water, and energy.
  • Anaerobic Decomposition: Decomposition without the use of oxygen.
  • Fossil Fuel Formation: Dead organic matter builds up underground faster than it can be anaerobically decomposed, and sediment pressurizes it.
  • Diffusion: Molecules moving from an area of higher concentration to one of lower concentration.
  • Shell Formation: To build shells, marine life extracts calcium and carbonate ions from ocean water, combining them to make shells.
  • Deposition: The laying down of sediment carried by wind, flowing water, the sea or ice.

The Carbon Cycle

==Reservoirs==

  • Atmosphere: The layers of gases surrounding a planet or other celestial body.
    • Contains Carbon Dioxide (CO2) and Methane (CH4 - converts to CO2 and H2O through exposure to Ozone).
  • Biosphere: The part of Earth’s surface where life exists.
    • Contains consumers, biomass, and organic molecules (ex: Glucose [C6H12O6]).
  • Lithosphere: The solid, outer part of Earth, including the brittle upper portion of the mantle and the crust.
    • Contains fossil fuels (coal, oil, and natural gas) and Limestone (CaCO3).
  • Hydrosphere: All the waters on the Earth’s surface.
    • Contains CO2 and Carbonate (CO3^-2).
  • Ocean Biosphere: The part of the Ocean where life exists.
    • Contains organisms, biomass, organic molecules (ex: Glucose [C6H12O6]), and Calcium Carbonate.

==Pathways==

  • Atmosphere to Biosphere

    • Photosynthesis
    • Carbon Dioxide (CO2) → Plants

  • Biosphere to Atmosphere

    • Cellular Respiration
    • Consumers → Carbon Dioxide (CO2)
    • Combustion
    • Organic Material → Carbon Dioxide (CO2)
    • Anaerobic Decomposition
    • Organic Material → Methane (CH4)

    Biosphere to Lithosphere

    • Fossil Fuel Formation
    • Dead organic matter → Lithosphere
    • Soil Absorption
    • Carbon stored in dead plants’ roots → Lithosphere

    Lithosphere to Atmosphere

    • Combustion of Fossil Fuels
    • Fossil Fuels → Atmosphere
    • Volcanic Eruptions
    • Lithosphere → Atmosphere

Atmosphere to Hydrosphere

  • Diffusion

    • Carbon Dioxide (CO2) → CO2

  • Precipitation

    • Carbon Dioxide (CO2) → Mixes with water (H2O) in the air → Carbonic Acid (H2CO3)

  • Hydrosphere to Ocean Biosphere

    • Photosynthesis
    • Carbon Dioxide (CO2)→ Plants
    • Shell Formation
    • Carbonate (CO3-2) → Mixes with Calcium (Ca+2) in the water → Calcium Carbonate (CaCO3)

  • Ocean Biosphere to Lithosphere

    • Deposition of Organic Matter
    • Biomass → Fossil Fuels
    • Deposition of Shells
    • Shells (containing Calcium Carbonate) →Limestone

==Human Disruption==

  • Deforestation
    • Fewer trees/plants mean less photosynthesis and glucose.
    • More carbon in the air.
      • More carbon in the air makes more carbonic acid and more acid rain.
      • More carbon in the air = more heat: global warming.
  • Combustion of Fossil Fuels
    • Used to take millions of years to release fossil fuels into the Atmosphere.
    • Humans are burning it and quickly transferring it to the atmosphere.
    • Traps a lot of heat: global warming.