The Carbon Cycle: A Visual Explainer
One cyclic diagram tracing how carbon moves between the atmosphere, living things, the ocean and rocks — and why some of these exchanges take days while others take millions of years.
📌 Revision Pointers
Fast cycle: Photosynthesis pulls CO₂ into the biosphere; Respiration & Decomposition release it back — timescale of days to decades.
Slow cycle: Weathering locks atmospheric CO₂ into rock; Combustion and Volcanic eruptions release it back — timescale of 100–200 million years.
Ocean links both cycles: Diffusion exchanges CO₂ with the atmosphere directly, while Marine Sedimentation (shells → limestone) feeds the slow cycle.
A single flow diagram mapping the four carbon reservoirs and the named process linking each pair, plus the fast-cycle vs slow-cycle distinction.
💭 Conclusion
A frequently tested Environment concept: remember that human fossil-fuel combustion is shifting carbon from the slow cycle into the fast cycle far faster than nature can balance it.