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Geo106
The Short Term Organic Carbon Cycle
33
Geography
Undergraduate 1
03/05/2013

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Cards

Term
What processes directly run short term terrestrial and marine orgainic carbon cycles?
Definition

Photosynthesis

Resperation

Decomposition

Term

What are the short term carbron reservoirs?

 

Definition

Soils and Sediments

Atmosphere

Living organisms

Term
How is organic carbon froms in soils and sediments?
Definition
this is formed from the bodies of dead decomposing organisms
Term

 

How much more carbon is in soil and sediments vs living orgaisms

Definition

2.5 times

more carbon in dead organisms than living

Term
What two types of dead organic carbon does the soil hold?
Definition

Litter

Humus

Term
What does litter consist of?
Definition

dead material that still has some recognizable structure to it

Ex: decaying logs, leaves

Term
What does humus consist of?
Definition
partices iof the hard to decar organinc matter, broken down until they are the size of tiny clay particles
Term
what is the reservoir residence time for litter and humus  in the soil repsectivley?
Definition

few years for leaves

few decades for logs

few centuries for humus

Term
where does carbon in humus have its highest abundance?
Definition
Swamps and marshes because decompostion is low when organic matter is wet
Term
where does the largest amount of carbon for litter exist?
Definition
boreal forrest because the cool dry weather results in logs decomposing very slowly
Term
Define Net Primary Productivity
Definition
net weight of carbon added to living plants in a given area or given unit of time
Term
What is the NPP formula?
Definition

Photosynthesis - plant respiration

 

Plants are reservoirs

PS are inputs and respiration are outputs

Term
When does photosynthesis occur?
Definition
Just during the growing season
Term
when does respiration occur?
Definition
this occurs all year round to keep plants alive
Term
In terms of net primary productivity what are the reservoirs, inputs and outputs?
Definition

The reservoir is are plants

Photosynthesis is the input

respiration is the output

Term
what happens when inputs are larger than ouputs?
Definition
Plants or living organisms in general will gain weight
Term
What kind of NPP pattern is present in january?
Definition

Climate-related spatial pattern

positive values means photosynthesis occuring

negative values means repseration is occuring

Term
What do we use to study NPP?
Definition
MODIS sattelite data
Term
From 2000-2009 where was the highest NPP? what trend did it follow?
Definition

The highest NPP was found in the tropics of south america and it decreased as you head poleward

lowest in the dessert?

Term

in terms of Atmospheric c02 levels what occurs when NPP is high or low?

 

Definition
When NPP is high we see a slow increase in atmospheric NPP levels however when NPP is low we see the C02 levels grow faster
Term
Explain the spacial variations of NPP from 2000-2009
Definition
the rate of NPP decreased in the tropics because high heat resulted in droughts. and we saw an increase in NPP in the higher latitude and this was because higher temps exttended the growing seasons resulting in more growth
Term
What happened to global NPP from 2000-2009 regarding overall levels?
Definition
we saw a 1% decrease in overall levels. Although there we added more C02 to the atmosphere this did not enable plants to grow faster. It actually created higher temperatures which led to droughts and cause lower plant growth
Term
how do producers in the marine organic carbon cycle produce  food?
Definition
Photosynthesis
Term
Who are important marine producers?
Definition

Phyto Plankton

through photosynthesis

Term

Where do most phyto Plankton live?

 

Definition
top 200 meters of the ocean becasue this is where light can shine and photosynthesis to occur
Term
What are consumers in the marine organic carbon cycle?
Definition
Consumers are organisms that depend on producers for food
Term
Who are the consumers?
Definition

The consumers are zooplankton which eat phyto plankton

Radiolarians and forminiferans

Term
What are nektons?
Definition
these are animals that can swim against the current can range from small to whales
Term

 

 

 

Describe the biological pump?

Definition

pulls c02 from the atmosphere into the ocean 

Photosynthesis reduces c02 levels by phytoplankton

zooplankton eat phyto plankton... dead plankton and faeces from zoo plankton sink to the bottom 

decomposers eat phyto plankton zoo plankton and faeces and release c02 into the ocean 

more plankton per cubic yard of surface ocean, means more carbon that will ultimatly end up in the underlying sedimeans, which means more c02 that can be dissolved into the surface ocean from the atmosphere

Term
How much carbon from formerly living organisms becom incorperated into ocean sediment?
Definition
.1%
Term
why does july show high phoitosynthesis in the the northern latitudes?
Definition
In the norther latitiudes the warming of surface oceans evens the temp between surface and deep ocean allowing nutrients from the deep ocean to rise to the surface ocean... however in warmer places it heats the surface to much to the point it todes not mix well with the deep ocean so the nutrients will not rise.
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