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A-Level Geography > Carbon > Flashcards

Carbon Flashcards

1
Q

How much carbon is in the atmosphere?

A

720 Gigatonnes

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2
Q

How much carbon is stored in the oceans?

A

37,000 Gigatonnes

mostly in deep water oceans

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3
Q

How much carbon is stored in the lithosphere?

A

75 million Gigatonnes

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4
Q

How much carbon is stored as organic carbon in the lithosphere?

A

15 million Gigatonnes

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5
Q

How much carbon is released to the atmosphere by humans?

A

9 Gigatonnes / year

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6
Q

What “type” of carbon is most of the Earth’s?

A

Geological

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7
Q

Why are sedimentary carbonate rocks formed (e.g. limestone)

A

Geological carbon

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8
Q

How is carbon naturally released to the atmosphere?

A

Volcanic eruptions
Volcanic out-gassing at ocean ridges and subduction
zones
Chemical weathering of rocks

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9
Q

What sequesters carbon in surface water oceans?

A

Phytoplankton

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10
Q

Why do phytoplankton sequester carbon?

A

Photosynthesis

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11
Q

How is carbon terrestrially sequestered?

A

Plants (“primary producers”)

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12
Q

Why do plants / primary producers sequester carbon?

A

Photosynthesis

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13
Q

Where do phytoplankton sequester carbon?

A

Surface water oceans

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14
Q

What is the physical carbon pump in the ocean?

A

Thermohaline circulation

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15
Q

What force moves carbon from surface water oceans to deep water oceans?

A

Gravity

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16
Q

What is the carbonate pump?

A

Organisms’ carbonate shells sink when it dies, and later turn into sedimentary rocks

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17
Q

What is the turnover time in the atmosphere?

A

A few years

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18
Q

What is the turnover time in the deep ocean sink and lithosphere?

A

Indefinite; usually millenia

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19
Q

What is a turnover time?

A

How long carbon stays in a store

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20
Q

What is a sink?

A

A store that holds carbon for an indefinite time

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21
Q

How can carbon quickly be returned to the atmosphere by primary producers?

A

Respiration

22
Q

How can biological carbon be returned to the atmosphere in the long-term?

A

Decomposition

23
Q

What are the two different rates at which photosynthesis varies?

A

Diurnally

Seasonally

24
Q

What does diurnally mean?

A

24-hour period

25
Q

Describe the greenhouse effect?

A

Heat energy from the sun enters the atmosphere and is reflected by the Earth
Some of it is trapped by greenhouse gases within the atmosphere

26
Q

What biological process plays a large role in regulating the composition of the atmosphere?

A

Photosynthesis

27
Q

What is the albedo effect?

A 
Light surfaces (i.e. ice) reflects solar radiation, 
which means less heat is absorbed by the Earth
28
Q

How can melting ice produce a positive feedback loop with the albedo effect?

A

Ice melts → reduced albedo → increase temperature → more ice melting → more albedo → etc.

29
Q

How have humans altered the carbon balance?

A

Fossil fuel combustion

30
Q

Are energy pathways a key aspect of security?

A

Yes

31
Q

What are examples of energy pathways?

A

Pipelines, shipping routes, road and rail

32
Q

What are unconventional fossil fuel energy resources?

A

Tar sands, oil shale, shale gas, deep water oil

33
Q

How are tar sands obtained?

A

Strip mining / open-pit mining

34
Q

What are the benefits of unconventional fossil fuels?

A

Increased energy independence

35
Q

What are the costs of unconventional fossil fuels?

A

Impact to the environment

36
Q

What is EROI?

A

Energy-return-to-investment

37
Q

What is shale gas?

A

Natural gas found within shale

38
Q

How is shale gas obtained?

A

Fracking

39
Q

What are the drawbacks of fracking?

A

Long-term impacts unknown

Research funded by industry or environmentalists

40
Q

What are the concerns about fracking?

A

Methane escapes to atmosphere during extraction

Water contamination

41
Q

How much of the water used for fracking that is returned to the ground surface is contaminated?

A

Up to 40%

42
Q

What happens to some of the contaminated water used for fracking?

A

Returned to the ground surface

43
Q

What is the EROI of tar sands?

A

4:1

44
Q

What are some positives of biofuels?

A

They are renewable

45
Q

What are some drawbacks of biofuels?

A

Crops could be used for food instead

They aren’t carbon-neutral

46
Q

Why aren’t biofuels carbon-neutral?

A

The crops’ carbon uptake mightn’t offset all of carbon emissions from biofuel combustion

47
Q

What is the different between carbon uptake and carbon emissions for biofuels?

A

63%

but this was poor methodology, funded by oil industry

48
Q

What is carbon capture?

A

Capturing CO2 emissions and storing them in depleted oil & gas fields

49
Q

How much of CO2 emissions can be captured by carbon capture?

A

Up to 90%

50
Q

At what stages can carbon capture occur?

A

Pre-combustion or post-combustion

A-Level Geography (14 decks)

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