paper 1 geography

    Subdecks (11)

    Cards (718)

    • What is carbon considered in relation to life on Earth?
      Building block of life
    • How does carbon regulate global climate?
      By affecting temperature and acidity levels
    • In which form is carbon found in the atmosphere?
      Carbon dioxide and methane
    • How is carbon stored in the hydrosphere?
      As dissolved carbon dioxide
    • Where is carbon found in the lithosphere?
      As carbonates in limestone and fossil fuels
    • How is carbon stored in the biosphere?
      In living and dead organisms
    • Where is biological carbon stored in the cryosphere?
      In permafrost
    • What are the components of the carbon cycle?
      • Stores: where carbon is held
      • Fluxes: flows moving carbon between stores
      • Processes: mechanisms driving fluxes (e.g., photosynthesis)
    • What does it mean that the carbon cycle is a closed system?
      The amount of carbon is constant and finite
    • What are the units used to measure carbon fluxes?
      Petagrams or gigatonnes per year
    • What happens when plants and animals die in relation to carbon?
      Carbon is released back into the atmosphere
    • What maintains carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere?
      An undisturbed carbon cycle
    • What can cause the carbon cycle to become unbalanced?
      Release of large amounts of carbon dioxide quickly
    • What is the geological carbon cycle focused on?
      • Huge carbon stores in rocks and sediments
      • Reservoir turnover rates of at least 100,000 years
      • Organic matter protected from decay
    • How long does it take for organic matter to turn into fossil fuels?
      Millions of years
    • What processes contribute to carbon flow in the geological carbon cycle?
      Volcanic eruptions, weathering, erosion
    • What characterizes the bio-geochemical carbon cycle?
      • Fast part of the carbon cycle
      • Large fluxes and rapid reservoir turnovers
      • Involves atmosphere, oceans, vegetation, and soils
    • What are the geological stores of carbon primarily derived from?
      • Formation of sedimentary carbonate rocks
      • Biologically derived carbon in shale and coal
    • What happens during the weathering of rocks in the carbon cycle?
      Breakdown of rocks through various weathering processes
    • What is the result of decomposition in the carbon cycle?
      Storage of carbon from dead organisms
    • How do rivers contribute to the carbon cycle?
      By transporting particles to the ocean
    • What occurs during sedimentation in the carbon cycle?
      Older sediments are buried by newer sediments
    • What is metamorphosis in the context of the carbon cycle?
      Transformation of sediment into rock under pressure
    • How long can carbon take to move between rocks and the atmosphere?
      Between 100 and 200 million years
    • What percentage of ocean carbon-containing rocks comes from shell-building organisms?
      80%
    • How do corals and plankton contribute to limestone formation?
      They form layers that cement together
    • What happens to organic carbon in mud over millions of years?
      It compresses to form sedimentary rock
    • Why are coal, oil, and natural gas called fossil fuels?
      They formed from organic material remains
    • What occurs when organic matter builds up faster than it decays?
      It develops into fossil fuels instead of shale
    • What are the stages of chemical weathering in the geological carbon cycle?
      1. Outgassing
      2. Weathering of rocks
      3. Decomposition
      4. Transportation
      5. Sedimentation
    • What drives the thermohaline circulation?
      Differences in temperature and salinity
    • What happens to warm surface waters in relation to nutrients and carbon dioxide?
      They become depleted through evaporation
    • How does the thermohaline circulation help with carbon distribution?
      It circulates carbon to deeper waters
    • What is the role of the solubility cycle in the carbon cycle?
      • CO2 forms carbonic acid in oceans
      • Reacts to form bicarbonates and carbonates
      • Organisms use carbonates for shells
      • Transforms into rocks like limestone
    • What is the physical pump in the carbon cycle?
      Transfer of CO2 absorbed by ocean's surface
    • How does cold water affect CO2 absorption?
      Cold water absorbs more CO2
    • What happens during upwelling in the carbon cycle?
      Carbon returns to the ocean's surface
    • Which soil type has a higher carbon content?
      Clay-rich soils
    • How much carbon have soils globally lost since 1850?
      40−90 billion tonnes
    • What is carbon sequestration?
      • Movement of carbon into carbon stores
      • Lowers the amount of carbon in the atmosphere
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