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The fast or biological cycle can complete within years, moving carbon from atmosphere to biosphere, then back to the atmosphere. The slow or geological cycle may extend deep into the mantle and can take millions of years to complete, moving carbon through the Earth's crust between rocks, soil, ocean and atmosphere. [2]
The exchange of carbon between soils and the atmosphere is a significant part of the world carbon cycle. [34] Carbon, as it relates to the organic matter of soils, is a major component of soil and catchment health.
Each year, the ocean and atmosphere exchange large amounts of carbon. A major controlling factor in oceanic-atmospheric carbon exchange is thermohaline circulation. In regions of ocean upwelling, carbon-rich water from the deep ocean comes to the surface and releases carbon into the atmosphere as carbon dioxide.
Carbon sequestration is part of the natural carbon cycle by which carbon is exchanged among the biosphere, pedosphere (soil), geosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere of Earth. [ citation needed ] Carbon dioxide is naturally captured from the atmosphere through biological, chemical, or physical processes, and stored in long-term reservoirs.
The exchange between the ocean and atmosphere can take centuries, and the weathering of rocks can take millions of years. Carbon in the ocean precipitates to the ocean floor where it can form sedimentary rock and be subducted into the Earth's mantle. Mountain building processes result in the return of this geologic carbon to the Earth's surface.
Soil respiration is a key ecosystem process that releases carbon from the soil in the form of CO 2. CO 2 is acquired by plants from the atmosphere and converted into organic compounds in the process of photosynthesis. Plants use these organic compounds to build structural components or respire them to release energy.
Because it is lightweight and relatively small in size, carbon molecules are easy for enzymes to manipulate. Carbonic anhydrase is part of this process. Carbon has an atomic number of 6 on the periodic table. The carbon cycle is a biogeochemical cycle that is important in maintaining life on Earth over a long time span.
Part of the net primary production, or the remaining carbon absorbed by the biosphere, is emitted back into the atmosphere through fires and heterotrophic respiration. The rest is converted into soil organic carbon, which is released more slowly, or "inert" dissolved carbon, which can remain in the biosphere for an unknown period of time. [3]