Carbon Cycle:
The term carbon cycle describes the complex processes carbon
undergoes as it is transformed from organic carbon—the form
found in living organisms such as plants and trees—to inorganic
carbon and back again. Most of the carbon in rivers originates
as atmospheric carbon dioxide and either cycles back to the
atmosphere or settles in sediments of the coastal ocean where it is
eventually buried.
For example, in the Amazon basin, tropical forests “breathe
in” carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and during photosynthesis
transform this inorganic carbon into organic carbon. As plants die
and decay, they carry carbon into the soil. Decomposition then
begins to transform organic carbon back again into inorganic carbon.
Rain and groundwater transport carbon from soil, decomposing
woody debris, leaf litter, and other organic matter in the waterways,
where it is digested by microorganisms, insects, and fish. The carbon
dioxide they generate and the dissolved inorganic carbon carried into
the rivers from on land then return to the atmosphere
undergoes as it is transformed from organic carbon—the form
found in living organisms such as plants and trees—to inorganic
carbon and back again. Most of the carbon in rivers originates
as atmospheric carbon dioxide and either cycles back to the
atmosphere or settles in sediments of the coastal ocean where it is
eventually buried.
For example, in the Amazon basin, tropical forests “breathe
in” carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and during photosynthesis
transform this inorganic carbon into organic carbon. As plants die
and decay, they carry carbon into the soil. Decomposition then
begins to transform organic carbon back again into inorganic carbon.
Rain and groundwater transport carbon from soil, decomposing
woody debris, leaf litter, and other organic matter in the waterways,
where it is digested by microorganisms, insects, and fish. The carbon
dioxide they generate and the dissolved inorganic carbon carried into
the rivers from on land then return to the atmosphere