Carbon Transfers

Question 1

Weathering, erosion and runoff.

Answer 1

Mildly acidic water dissolves carbonate rocks such as limestone. Dissolved carbon moves through runoff to oceans.
Soil is eroded, especially where vegetation has been removed.

Question 2

Burial and compaction.

Answer 2

Where organic matter becomes buried and is then compressed by overlying sediment. Over 1,000,000s of years, these organic sediments containing carbon may form hydrocarbons such as coal.

When corals and shelled marine organisms died their calcium rich shells accumulate on the seabed. Some dissolve forming CO2 and some become compacted to form limestone.

Question 3

Subduction.

Answer 3

Occurs when one tectonic plate sinks underneath another, moving down into the mantle. This usually involves the oceanic crust sinking below the continental crust under extreme heat and pressure. The heated rock recombines into silicate minerals, releasing carbon dioxide.

Question 4

Volcanic eruptions.

Answer 4

When volcanoes erupt, they vent carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and cover the land with fresh silicate rock. At present, volcanoes emit far less carbon dioxide than humans by burning fossil fuels.

Question 5

Photosynthesis

Answer 5

Where plants use light energy from the sun to produce carbohydrates in the form of glucose.
Carbon dioxide is then taken from the atmosphere and converted into starch, then stored in vegetation.

Question 6

Respiration.

Answer 6

A chemical process that happens in all cells and is common in both animals and plants.

Glucose is converted into energy and used for growth, repair and movement. In the process, carbon dioxide is returned to the atmosphere by exhaled air.

Question 7

Soil respiration.

Answer 7

Carbon dioxide is produced when soil organisms respire. This includes roots and microbes.

Question 8

Decomposition.

Answer 8

Carbon from the bodies of dead organisms is returned to resume and as carbon dioxide. Sons organic material passes into the soil where it is stored.

Question 9

The oceanic carbon pump.

Answer 9

The transfer of carbon from the atmosphere to the ocean.

Includes the fixing of carbon by plankton and sedimentation as organisms sink to the ocean floor.

Question 10

Combustion.

Answer 10

When fossil fuels are burned in the presence of oxygen and converted into energy, producing carbon dioxide and water.

Question 11

Carbon sequestration

Answer 11

The umbrella term used to describe the transfer of carbon from the atmosphere to plants, soils, rock formations and oceans.