carbon cycle

What is Carbon Cycle
The global moment of carbon between a
biotic environment including the atmosphere
and oceans and organism is known as
carbon cycle
Source of carbon cycles:
 A major source of
atmospheric CO2 is degassing
from volcanic activity which
acts as a release of carbon
dioxide
Another important source of
carbon in the atmosphere is in
the decomposition of organic
material
Weathering and Erosion

Sinks of Carbon cycle
 Terrestrial ecosystems draw carbon
dioxide from the atmosphere and use it in
photosynthesis
 All plants act as a sink for carbon dioxide
because it is a necessary gas for
photosynthesis
 Marine ecosystems have the capacity to
store significant amounts of carbon in
sediments and also are able to sequester
carbon in photosynthesis or
chemosynthesis through phytoplankton,
seaweeds, and other marine algae
 Most storage of carbon is in marine
sediments and rocks, although some
carbon is used by marine life in the
formation of calcium carbonate

Photosynthesis
Definition:-
Chemical process by which plants
containing chlorophyll use sunlight to
manufacture their own food by converting
carbon dioxide and water to carbohydrates,
releasing oxygen as a by-product
Process:-
 Photosynthetic organisms, such as plants and
certain algae, absorb carbon dioxide through
tiny pores in their leaves
 The plants then "fix" or capture the carbon
dioxide and convert it into simple sugars like
glucose
 Plants store and use this sugar to grow and to
reproduce
 When plants are eaten by animals, their
carbon is passed on to those animals

Respiration
Definition:-
The process in which oxygen is used
to break down organic compounds into
carbon dioxide and water
Process:-
 Usually think only of breathing oxygen when
we hear the word "respiration," it has a
broader meaning that involves oxygen
 To a biologist, respiration is the process in
which oxygen is used to break down organic
compounds into carbon dioxide (CO2) and
water (H2O)
 In animal respiration is both taking in oxygen
(and releasing carbon dioxide) and oxidizing
its food (or burning it with oxygen) in order
to release the energy the food contains
 In both cases, carbon is returned to the
atmosphere as carbon dioxide

Decomposition
Definition:-
The breakdown of complex molecules—molecules of which dead
organisms are composed—into simple nutrients that can be reutilized by
living organisms
Process:-
 Decomposition is the largest source through which carbon is returned to the
atmosphere as carbon dioxide
 Decomposition process carried out by the microorganisms known as
Decomposers
 They consume both waste products and dead matter, during which they also
return carbon dioxide to the atmosphere by respiration
 Decomposers not only play a key role in the carbon cycle, but also break
down, remove, and recycle what might be called nature's garbage

Decomposers
Pseudomonas bacteriaFungi
Worms

Weathering of rocks
Definition:-
Weathering is the breaking down
of rocks, soil and minerals as well as wood and
artificial materials through contact with the Earth's
atmosphere, waters and biological organisms
Process:-
 Not all carbon atoms are always moving
somewhere in the carbon cycle, many become
trapped in limerock
 Sometimes after millions of years, the waters
recede and the limerock is eventually exposed
to the elements
 When limerock is exposed to the natural
process of weathering, it slowly releases the
carbon atoms it contains
 And they become an active part of the carbon
cycle once again

Atmosphere
 Carbon in the Earth's atmosphere exists in two
main forms, carbon dioxide and methane
 It is significant that so much carbon dioxide
stays in the atmosphere because CO2 is the
most important gas for controlling Earth’s
temperature
 Carbon dioxide, methane, and halocarbons
are greenhouse gases that absorb a wide
range of energy—including infrared energy
(heat) emitted by the Earth—and then re-emit
it
 The re-emitted energy travels out in all
directions, but some returns to Earth, where it
heats the surface
 Water vapor concentrations in the air are
controlled by Earth’s temperature

ATMOSPHERE
• Rising carbon dioxide concentrations are already causing the planet to heat up
• At the same time that greenhouse gases have been increasing, average global
temperatures

Oceans
 About 30 percent of the carbon dioxide that
people have put into the atmosphere has diffused
into the ocean through the direct chemical
exchange
 Dissolving carbon dioxide in the ocean creates
carbonic acid, which increases the acidity of the
water
 Ocean acidification affects marine organisms in
two ways
 First, carbonic acid reacts with carbonate ions in
the water to form bicarbonate
 Second, the more acidic water is, the better it
dissolves calcium carbonate
 An increase in carbon dioxide could increase
growth by fertilizing those few species of
phytoplankton and ocean plants (like sea grasses)
that take carbon dioxide directly from the water

Terrestrial biosphere
 The terrestrial biosphere includes the
organic carbon in all land-living organisms,
both alive and dead, as well as carbon
stored in soils
 Plants on land have taken up approximately
25 percent of the carbon dioxide
 In the tropics, however, forests are being
removed, often through fire, and this
releases carbon dioxide
 The biggest changes in the land carbon
cycle are likely to come because of climate
change
 Carbon dioxide increases temperatures,
extending the growing season and
increasing humidity
 With a longer, warmer growing season,
plants need more water to survive

IMPACTS OF HUMMAN
ACTIVITIES ON CARBON
CYCLE

Burning of fossils fuels
 Natural gas , oil, coal are fossil fuels that
are commonly burned to generate
electricity in power plants ,in homes and in
industries
 When a oil or coal is burned carbon is
released into the atmosphere
 The concentration of carbon dioxide in the
atmosphere increase
 The primary industrial activities that emit
carbon dioxide and affect the carbon cycle
are petroleum refining, paper, food and
mineral production, mining and the
production of chemicals

Deforestation
 Deforestation is the another method
through which human effect carbon cycle
 Forest are the natural carbon sink when
human cut forest the carbon dioxide
increase in the atmosphere and the trees
are no longer absorb the carbon dioxide
for photosynthesis
 Agriculture is the primary cause of
deforestation
 Farmers remove trees on a large-scale
basis to increase acreage for crops and
livestock

Carbon sequestration
 When plants remove carbon dioxide
from the air and store it ,the process is
known as carbon sequestration
 Agricultural and forestry methods can
effect how much carbon dioxide is
removed from the atmosphere and
stored by the plants
 Human remove carbon dioxide from the
atmosphere by plants and trees in
managing farmlands
 These sinks of carbon dioxide affect the
carbon cycle by decreasing the amount
of carbon dioxide in the air

carbon cycle

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