booklet 1 - distribution + stores

• What is Carbon?


  one of the most versatile elements and forms more compounds than any other element
• carbon dioxide


  atmoshperes, soil, ocean
• methane


  atmosphere soil ocean sedimentary rocks
• calcium carbonate


  ocean, skeletons shells
• hydrocarbons


  coal oil gas sedimentary rocks
• bio-molecules


  ccomplex carbon compounds produced in living things eg. proteins, DNA
• carbon additional points


  - 50% of all biomass made up of carbon

  -makes up 18% of our bodies

  -essential building block for life
• Biosphere amount


  0.0012%
• what is the biosphere

  -trees plants and all other living organisms on land and sea

  -photosynthesis plants turn sun energy and carbon into carbohydrates

  -much of carbon stores in rainforests like the amazon but less in desert and polar regions
• Atmosphere amount


  0.0017%
• Atmosphere what is it

  consists of carbon dioxide and methane

  -past century carbon increased 36%

  -increase in carbon driving enhanced greenhouse effect and global warming
• Pedosphere amount


  0.0031%
• pedosphere what is it

  -soil

  - peat soil consists of 60% carbon- builds up over time and is preserved in ground
• fossil fuels amount

  0.004%
• fossil fuels what is it

  over millions of years organic matter gets buried deeper and deeper and heat and pressure builds up - converts to fossil fuels
• Hydrosphere amount


  0.038%
• hydrosphere what is it

  -sea

  -50x more than in atmosphere

  -90% carbon dissolved in sea water as bicarbonate
• lithosphere amount


  99.9%
• lithosphere what is it

  -marine sediments and sedimentary rocks

  -limestone made up of shells of sea creatures deposited millions of years ago
• tundra


  -very low temperatures

  -little precipitation

  -poor nutrients and growing season

  -dead organis material stored in ground

  -important carbon store

  -found in russia alaska canada
• flux


  movement or transfer of carbon between stores - create cycles and feedback
• what are biggest fluxes

  photosynthesis, ocean uptake/loss
• carbon cylce fluxes

  
• ocean stores


  surface zone - euphotic zone

  intermediate - twilight zone

  living organic matter

  
• surface/euphotic zone


  sunlight penetrates so that photosynthesis can take place

  contains around 900GtC
• intermediate/twilight zone


  deep layer of water - 37100 GtC
• living organic matter


  fish, plankton, bacteria - 30 GtC

  diddolved - 700GtC
• sedimentary layer in ocean

  -when organisms die their dead cells and shell sink into deep water

  - some material sinks to bottom where it forms layer of carbon rich sediments

  -over millions of years these may turn into rocks

  -this part of cycle can lock up carbon for millions of years
• net primary productivity


  difference bewteen amount of carbon plants absorb and what they release
• when does net global primary prodctivity peak

  -August

  because bulk of earths land is in the northern hemisphere