During a process called photosynthesis, green plants and algae convert carbon dioxide and water into carbohydrates and release oxygen back into the air. These carbohydrates are used as a source of energy for all organisms in the food web. Carbon dioxide is recycled when autotrophs and heterotrophs release it back into the air during cellular respiration. Carbon and oxygen recycle relatively quickly through living organisms.
Carbon enters a long-term cycle when organic matter is buried underground and converted to peat, coal, oil, or gas deposits. The carbon might remain as fossil fuel for millions of years. Carbon is released from fossil fuels when they are burned, which adds carbon dioxide to the atmosphere.
In addition to combining to form fossil fuels, carbon and oxygen can combine and create calcium carbonate (CaCO3). Calcium carbonate is found in the shells of plankton and animals such as coral, clams, and oysters. The shells of these organisms fall to the ocean floor when they die, creating vast deposits of limestone rock. Carbon and oxygen remain trapped in these deposits until the rocks are exposed to weathering and erosion and carbon and oxygen are released.
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Question 2
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Question 3
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Question 4
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Question 5
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Other Answer Choices:
Photosynthesis & respiration
sedimentation
combustion
diffusion
Question 6
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Using your knowledge of the carbon cycle. Hypothesize something we could do to remove or lessen the amount of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere.
Name 2 ways in which human activities impact the carbon and oxygen cycle.
combustion of fossil fuels and sedimentation
combustion of fossil fuels and destruction of vegetation
respiration and photosynthesis
photosynthesis and destruction of vegetation
Identify 2 processes in the carbon and oxygen cycle that occur in aquatic environments.
diffusion and sedimentation
combustion of fossil fuels and sedimentation
diffusion and destruction of vegetation
combustion of fossil fuels and destruction of vegetation
How do carbon and oxygen cycle through subterranean environments?
carbon dioxide can diffuse into water and settle to the ground in a process called sedimentation
dead organisms and organic waste can be broken down to form fossil fuels
burning fossil fuels releases carbon dioxide, as does respiration by organisms
through respiration, organisms release carbon dioxide that plants can use for photsynthesis
How do living organisms impact the carbon and oxygen cycle?
