Introduction to carbon cycle Carbon is the fourth-most abundant chemical element in the universe and forms the building

blocks of the living world along with hydrogen and oxygen. In fact, its concentration in the biotic world (living world) is almost 100 times more than that in the abiotic (non-living) world. Carbon is the basic component of natural organic substances such as carbohydrates, lipids and proteins in plan ts. In fact, carbon constitutes the definition of life, as its presence or abse nce helps define whether a molecule is considered to be organic or inorganic. Inorganic carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is converted by plants into s imple carbohydrates which are then used to produce more complex substances. Car bon is initially obtained in the form of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere (the reservoir pool) by green plants for carbon dioxide fixation. Its global moveme nt is called the carbon cycle. Carbon cycle is the exchange of carbon between li ving organisms and the non-living environment. Carbon cycle is the set of bioge ochemical processes by which carbon undergoes chemical reactions, changes form, and moves through different reservoirs on earth into the living organisms and ba ck into the Earth. Carbon exists in the non-living environment as: carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere and dissolved in water (forming HCO3 carbonate rocks (limestone and coral,CaCO3) deposits of coal, petroleum, and natural gas derived from once-living things dead organic matter, for example, humus in the soil Animals eat the plants and are then eaten by other animals. When these l ife forms die, they decay and is breaking down into carbon dioxide which returns to the atmosphere. The process of incorporating carbon dioxide into the molecu les of living matter is called carbon dioxide fixation. During carbon dioxide f ixation, carbon dioxide is converted to complex organic compounds such as carboh ydrates, lipids and proteins. Nearly all carbon dioxide fixation is accomplished by means of photosynt hesis, in which green plants form carbohydrates from carbon dioxide and water us ing the energy of sunlight to drive the chemical reactions involved. Green plant s use carbohydrates to build the other organic molecules that make up their cell s, such as cellulose, fats, proteins, and nucleic acids. This cycle consists of several storage pools of carbon and the processes by which the various pools exchange carbon. If more carbon is entering a pool than leaving it, that pool is considered a net carbon sink. If more carbon is le aving a pool than entering it, that pool is considered net carbon source.

Types of global carbon cycle The global carbon cycle is one of the major biogeochemical cycles. It can be di vided into geological and biological components. The geological carbon cycle ope rates on a time scale of millions of years whereas the biological carbon cycle o perates on a time scale of days to thousands of years. The geological carbon cycle The geological component of the carbon cycle is where it interacts with the rock cycle in the processes of weathering and dissolution, precipitation of minerals, burial and subduction, and volcanism. In the atmosphere, carbonic acid

forms by a reaction with atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) and water. As this we akly acidic water reaches the earth as rain, it reacts with minerals at the eart h s surface, slowly dissolving them into their component ions through the process of chemical weathering. These component ions are carried in surface waters like st reams and rivers eventually to the ocean, where they precipitate out as minerals like calcite (CaCO3). Through continued deposition and burial, this calcite sed iment forms the rock called limestone. This cycle continues as seafloor spreading pushes the seafloor under con tinental margins in the process of subduction. As seafloor carbon is pushed deep er into the earth by tectonic forces, it heats up, eventually melts, and can ris e back up to the surface, where it is released as CO2 and returned to the atmosp here. This return to the atmosphere can occur violently through volcanic eruptio ns, or more gradually in seeps, vents, and CO2-rich hot springs. Tectonic uplift can also expose previously buried limestone. One example of this occurs in the Himalayas where some of the world s highest peaks are formed of material that was on ce at the bottom of the ocean. Weathering, subduction, and volcanism control atm ospheric carbon dioxide concentrations over time periods of hundreds of millions of years. The Biological carbon cycle Biology plays an important role in the movement of carbon between land, ocean, and atmosphere through the processes of photosynthesis and respiration. V irtually all multicellular life on Earth depends on the production of sugars fro m sunlight and carbon dioxide (photosynthesis) and the metabolic breakdown (resp iration) of those sugars to produce the energy needed for movement, growth, and reproduction. Plants take in carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere during pho tosynthesis, and release CO2 back into the atmosphere during respiration through the following chemical reactions: Respiration: C6H12O6 (organic matter) + 6O2 6CO2 + 6 H2O + energy Photosynthesis: energy (sunlight) + 6CO2 + H2O C6H12O6 + 6O2 Through photosynthesis, green plants use solar energy to turn atmospheri c carbon dioxide into carbohydrates (sugars). Plants and animals use these carbo hydrates through a process called respiration which is the reverse of photosynth esis. Respiration releases the energy contained in sugars for use in metabolism and changes carbohydrate fuel back into carbon dioxide, which is in turn released back to the atmosphere. The amount of carbon taken up by photosynthesis and released back to the atmosphere by respiration each year is about 1,000 times greater th an the amount of carbon that moves through the geological cycle on an annual bas is. On land, the major exchange of carbon with the atmosphere results from p hotosynthesis and respiration. During daytime in the growing season, leaves abso rb sunlight and take up carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. At the same time pla nts, animals, and soil microbes consume the carbon in organic matter and return carbon dioxide to the atmosphere. Photosynthesis stops at night when the sun can not provide the driving energy for the reaction, though respiration continues. T his kind of imbalance between these two processes is reflected in seasonal chang es in the atmospheric CO2 concentrations. During winter in the northern hemisphe re, photosynthesis ceases when many plants lose their leaves, but respiration co ntinues. This condition leads to an increase in atmospheric CO2 concentrations d uring the northern hemisphere winter. With the onset of spring, however, photosy nthesis resumes and atmospheric CO2 concentrations are reduced.