Carbon Moves Handout

Name: Emily Phan BIO182 – Nutrient Cycling: Carbon in the Colorado Plateau Round Starting Reservoir Time in Reservoir Process causing change in form of Carbon (if any) Ending Reservoir Ex. Atmosphere 65 years Photosynthesis Biosphere Plants 1 Biosphere Animal 20 hours Excretion Biosphere soil 2 Biosphere soil Millions of years Intense pressure Lithosphere fossil fuel 3 Lithosphere fossil fuel Millions of years Burned Atmosphere 4 Atmosphere 90 years Dissolved Hydrosphere 5 Hydrosphere 50 years Degasses Atmosphere 6 Atmosphere 57 years Inhaled and exhaled Atmosphere 7 Atmosphere 30 years Photosynthesis Biosphere soil 8 Biosphere soil Millions of years Intense pressure Lithosphere fossil fuel 9 Lithosphere fossil fuel Millions of years Heat and pressure Lithosphere fossil fuel 10 Lithosphere fossil fuel Millions of years Burned Atmosphere 11 Atmosphere 40 years Dissolved Hydrosphere 12 Hydrosphere 3 years Degassed Atmosphere 1. Look over your data table. List the reservoirs that you visited. Biosphere animal, biosphere soil, lithosphere fossil fuel, atmosphere, and hydrosphere. 2. In which reservoir(s) did you stay for just a short period of time? Why do you think you were only there a short while? Biosphere animal and hydrosphere. I think I stayed here for a short period of time because it didn’t require a lot of time for the carbon to change forms. For instance, the carbon just need to go through the animal’s system before going back out into the atmosphere. However, if we compared

that to the lithosphere fossil fuel, the time spent there was millions of years due to the time carbon required to convert. I also think that the longer time was a result of how big the reservoir was. For instance, the size of an animal is much smaller compared to a mountain where fossil fuels are formed. 3. What processes move carbon fairly quickly from one reservoir to another? For example, what processes move carbon from the atmosphere to the biosphere? What processes move carbon from the biosphere to the atmosphere? Degassed, excretion, inhalation and exhalation. 4. In which reservoirs did you remain for millions of years before you were able to go to a new reservoir? Lithosphere fossil fuels and limestone. 5. Did you become any man-made (anthropogenic) sources of carbon when you played the game? What evidence do you see of humans changing the carbon cycle? In which carbon reservoir does most of this “extra” carbon accumulate? Yes, I was used as a energy source as a fossil fuel. I saw evidence of humans changing the carbon cycle through the burning of coal which releases more carbon into the atmosphere which stays there for a long time. Most of the extra carbon accumulate in the atmosphere. 6. Describe how the modern carbon cycle would differ from the pre-industrial carbon cycle. The modern carbon cycle differs from the pre-industrial carbon cycle greatly. Due to not needing as much fossil fuel to power factories, machines, or electricity, the pre-industrial carbon cycle had a lot less carbon in the atmosphere. It was a balanced system unlike the modern carbon cycle where it was influenced greatly from urbanization, deforestation, and increased carbon emissions. 7. Please use the date table on page 1 to diagram your movement through the carbon cycle. Use arrows (you should end up with 12) to show movement from one reservoir to another (in Word, Insert > Shapes, then select the arrow). Label all the processes (respiration/predation, etc.) that facilitated the movement of carbon. Each arrow should have a corresponding number that represents the round (column #1 in data table).