The combustion of fossil fuels has supplied us with energy for as long as we can remember. Long-term geological processes may expose the carbon in these fuels to air after a long period of time, but usually the carbon within the fossil fuels is released during humane combustion processes. When layers of sediment compress this matter fossil fuels will be formed, after many centuries. The remains are locked away in underground deposits. Under certain conditions dead plant matter accumulates faster than it is decomposed within an ecosystem. Not all organic matter is immediately decomposed. This carbon is released back into the atmosphere by decomposition, as was noted before. But carbon can also be stored as biomass in the roots of trees and other organic matter for many decades. Carbon dioxide is released back into the atmosphere during respiration of consumers, which breaks down glucose and other complex organic compounds and converts the carbon back to carbon dioxide for reuse by producers.Ĭarbon that is used by producers, consumers and decomposers cycles fairly rapidly through air, water and biota. Animals are called consumers, because they use the oxygen that is produced by plants. The oxygen that is produced during photosynthesis will sustain non-producing life forms, such as animals, and most micro organisms. The overall reaction of photosynthesis is:Ĭarbon dioxide + water + solar energy -> glucose + oxygenĦ CO 2 + 6 H 2O + solar energy -> C 6H 12O 6 + 6 O 2 Only plants and some bacteria have the ability to conduct this process, because they possess chlorophyll a pigment molecule in leaves that they can capture solar energy with. ![]() During photosynthesis, plants and other producers transfer carbon dioxide and water into complex carbohydrates, such as glucose, under the influence of sunlight. The process of oxygen generation is called photosynthesis. Aquatic plants also generate oxygen, but they use carbon dioxide from water. Terrestrial plants use atmospheric carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, to generate oxygen that sustains animal life. The carbon cycle is based on carbon dioxide (CO 2), which can be found in air in the gaseous form, and in water in dissolved form. The aquatic carbon cycle is concerned with the movements of carbon through marine ecosystems and the terrestrial carbon cycle is concerned with the movement of carbon through terrestrial ecosystems. The carbon cycle naturally consists of two parts, the terrestrial and the aquatic carbon cycle. Through following the carbon cycle we can also study energy flows on earth, because most of the chemical energy needed for life is stored in organic compounds as bonds between carbon atoms and other atoms. Carbon follows a certain route on earth, called the carbon cycle. ![]()
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