The Carbon Cycle

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The Carbon Cycle

• Carbon is in..
• all living things
• the atmosphere
• layers under ocean floor
• fossil fuels (coal, oil, gas)

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Elements in the universe

• Hydrogen (H) lt most abundant
• Helium (He)
• Oxygen (O2)
• Carbon (C )

Hubble Space Telescope Near Infrared Camera and
Multi-Object Spectrometer (NICMOS) shows a disk
of gas and dust around a young star.
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Earths carbon cycle 2 parts

• Geological - takes millions of years
• Biological - takes days to thousands of yrs

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Geological Carbon Cycle- millions of years -
Carbonate rocks (calcium
magnesium) Weathering Erosion Subduction Er
uptions
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Biological Carbon Cycle - days to thousands of
years -

• Starts with plants
• Photosynthesis
• Make carbohydrates
• Respiration
• Metabolism
• Decomposition by
• bacteria

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Biosphere lt-gt Atmosphere Land ocean plants
remove CO2 from the air

• Land plants store carbon in tree trunks in soil
• Ocean plant plankton animal plankton -
  carbonates settle to ocean floor

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Coal, Oil GasFossil fuels
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Is this part of the Carbon Cycle?

• Burning coal, oil, and other fossil fuels
  releases heat-trapping gases, such as carbon
  dioxide, into the atmosphere.

Burning fossil fuels produces carbon dioxide
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More than half of the carbon dioxide emitted by
the burning of fossil fuels is absorbed by the
oceans, by plants, and by soils.
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Your Carbon Footprint