The Carbon Cycle (NASA)

Get the latest Flash player

djxatlanta
October 15, 2009

Carbon is the basic building block of life, and these unique atoms are found everywhere on Earth. Carbon makes up Earth's plants and animals, and is also stored in the ocean, the atmosphere, and the crust of the planet. A carbon atom could spend millions of years moving through Earth in a complex cycle. This conceptual animation provides an illustration of the various parts of the Carbon cycle. Purple arrows indicate the uptake of Carbon; yellow arrows indicate the release of Carbon.
On land, plants remove carbon from the atmosphere through photosynthesis. Animals eat plants and either breath out the carbon, or it moves up the food chain. When plants and animals die and decay, they transfer carbon back to the soil. Moving offshore, the ocean takes up carbon through physical and biological processes. At the ocean's surface, carbon dioxide from the atmosphere dissolves into the water. Tiny marine plants called phytoplankton use this carbon dioxide for photosynthesis. Phytoplankton are the base of the marine food web. After animals eat the plants, they breathe out the carbon or pass it up the food chain. Sometimes phytoplankton die, decompose, and are recycled in the surface waters. Phytoplankton can also sink to the bottom of the ocean, where they become buried in marine sediment. Over long time scales, this process has made the ocean floor the largest reservoir of carbon on the planet. In a process called upwelling, currents bring cold water containing carbon up to the surface. As the water warms, the carbon is then be released as a gas back into the atmosphere, continuing the carbon cycle.

Carbon is found in the atmosphere as Carbon dioxide, which is a greenhouse gas. Greenhouse gases act like a blanket, and trap heat in the atmosphere. In the past two centuries, humans have increased atmospheric carbon dioxide by more than 30%, by burning fossil-fuels and cutting down forests.

Carbon is the basic building block of life, and these unique atoms are found everywhere on Earth. Carbon makes up Earth's plants and animals, and is also stored in the ocean, the atmosphere, and the crust of the planet. A carbon atom could spend millions of years moving through Earth in a complex cycle. This conceptual animation provides an illustration of the various parts of the Carbon cycle. Purple arrows indicate the uptake of Carbon; yellow arrows indicate the release of Carbon.

Credit: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center/UMBC

Category: Education

Tags:

More From: djxatlanta

Play All Stop Autoplaying | Play Next

QuickList(0)

Clear | Save

Would you like to comment?

Join YouTube for a free account, or sign in if you are already a member.

YouTube	Programs	Help	Policy	Discover
Contact Us	Advertising	Get Help	Privacy Policy	YouTube on Your Phone
YouTube Store	Developers	YouTube Handbook	Terms of Service	YouTube on Your Site
Press Room	Partnerships	Community Help Forums	Copyright Notices	YouTube on Your TV
Business Blog	Content Management	Safety Center	Community Guidelines	YouTube RSS Feeds
YouTube Blog		Creator's Corner		TestTube

Add YouTube to your Google homepage

Current Location: Worldwide Show locations

The Carbon Cycle (NASA)

More From: djxatlanta

QuickList(0)

Featured Videos

Statistics & Data

Video Responses (0)

Text Comments (0) Options

Would you like to comment?

The Carbon Cycle (NASA)

More From: djxatlanta

QuickList(0)

Related Videos

Featured Videos

Statistics & Data

Video Responses (0)

Text Comments (0) Options

Would you like to comment?