Carbon Cycle

Carbon stores

what is it ?

Geological carbon cycle

Importance of phytoplankton

  • A biochemical cycle in which carbon is stored and moved between different stores through fluxes
  • If the carbon source is also the sink the cycle is in equilibrium
  • Water
  • Rocks
  • Organisms
  • Lithosphere
  • Oceanic
  • Biomass
  • Atmospheric
  • Geological processes control the geological carbon cycle through processes such as volcanic outgassing and chemical weathering (carbonic acid)
  • Has a slow reservoir turnover rate of at least 100,000 years
  • Carbon sequestration is the process in which carbon is captured and stored long term
  • Carbon is stored in sedimentary rocks such as limestone
  • Sequesters atmospheric carbon during photosynthesis on the surface of the ocean as part of the biological pump
  • Changes in phytoplankton can impact biodiversity, global warming and fisheries

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Oceanic stores

  • Warm water releases C02
  • Cold water stores C02
  • In areas where deep currents meet suface currents, the C02 sources flux is greater

Biological pump

  • Driven by organisms that live in the ocean
  • Involves processes such as photosynthesis
  • Moves carbon down to the sea floor

Carbonate pump

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