The Carbon Cycle is a complex series of processes through which all of the carbon atoms in

existence rotate. The same carbon atoms in your body today have been used in countless other
molecules since time began. The wood burned just a few decades ago could have produced
carbon dioxide which through photosynthesis became part of a plant. When you eat that plant,
the same carbon from the wood which was burnt can become part of you. The carbon cycle is the
great natural recycler of carbon atoms. Unfortunately, the extent of its importance is rarely
stressed enough. Without the proper functioning of the carbon cycle, every aspect of life could
be changed dramatically.
We believe that it's vital to understand
how the carbon cycle works in order to
see the danger of it not working.
Therefore, let's look at a sample carbon
cycle and explore how carbon atoms
move through our natural world. Plants,
animals, and soil interact to make up the
basic cycles of nature. In the carbon
cycle, plants absorb carbon dioxide from
the atmosphere and use it, combined
with water they get from the soil, to
make the substances they need for
growth. The process of photosynthesis
incorporates the carbon atoms from
carbon dioxide into sugars. Animals,
such as the rabbit pictured here, eat the
plants and use the carbon to build their
own tissues. Other animals, such as the
fox, eat the rabbit and then use the
carbon for their own needs. These
animals return carbon dioxide into the air when they breathe, and when they die, since the carbon
is returned to the soil during decomposition. The carbon atoms in soil may then be used in a new
plant or small microorganisms. Ultimately, the same carbon atom can move through many
organisms and even end in the same place where it began. Herein lies the fascination of the
carbon cycle; the same atoms can be recycled for millennia!

Now that you have learned about the cycle, let's go into some specifics.

As you travel through the carbon cycle, we will trace a specific carbon atom, our hero Captain
Carbon. Look for him to be marked in chemical diagrams with a colored "C." Each cycle
contains many pages where Captain Carbon is part of a molecule or a greater structure and other
pages where the Captain is undergoing a chemical change. Each of the "stops" is represented on
the image maps by an oval or circle. The transitions are shown as arrows. The transitions are
often longer and more involved pages than the stops, so do not be surprised if the page for
glucose, for example, simply shows the glucose molecule with Captain Carbon's position
marked. More information about glucose and other stops will be in the preceeding and following
transition pages.

This site contains two different paths through the carbon cycle. In the carbohydrate cycle,
Captain Carbon is transferred from carbon dioxide to a starch through photosynthesis. The
Captain is followed as the wheat is consumed and the starch fuels a human body producing
another carbon dioxide molecule to complete the cycle. Photosynthesis, however, allows
multiple possibilities for the fate of our carbon atom; therefore, in the other cycle, the protein
cycle, Captain Carbon becomes part of a protein in a plant that has undergone photosynthesis.
The Captain travels through grass, a cow, and a human body as a protein until the human dies
and decays producing a fossil fuel that burns to produce carbon dioxide. As a result, we have
come full circle back to photosynthesis, the linking process between the two circles.

Each transition in this site begins with the Captain's Log where Captain Carbon tells his side of
the story about the process that is going on. Following the Captain's Log is an overview and a
detailed explanation of the various steps and processes which are going on. At the bottom of
each page you will find a series of links. These links allow you to go forward and backward
along the cycle. On two of the pages where the circles intersect, there are alternate links to allow
you to move from the carbohydrate circle to the protein circle. Also, look for the "Captain's
Cards" links to look at the postcards written by Captain Carbon on his adventures. Finally,
should you get lost, simply look at the bottom of the page. A small navigational map of the
cycles will show your position highlighted. If you wish to return to the full size image maps,
click on the left side of the small navigational map to return to the protein cycle image map and
click on the right side to return to the carbohydrate/fuel image map.

You can start and end anywhere on our Carbon Cycle. First select which cycle you wish to go to
by clicking on either the link or its circle in the image map. Then choose the exact process or
state with which you wish to start from the full size image map which will appear.
 Carbon Cycle

Carbon Cycle - Photosynthesis:

Photosynthesis is a complex series of reactions carrie

out by algae, phytoplankton, and the leaves in plants
which utilize the energy from the sun. The simplified
version of this chemical reaction is to utilize carbon
dioxide molecules from the air and water molecules
the energy from the sun to produce a simple sugar su
as glucose and oxygen molecules as a by product. Th
simple sugars are then converted into other molecule
such as starch, fats, proteins, enzymes, and DNA/RN
i.e. all of the other molecules in living plants. All of
"matter/stuff" of a plant ultimately is produced as a r
of this photosynthesis reaction.
Click for larger image   
An important summary statement is that during
photosynthesis plants use carbon dioxide and pro
oxygen.
 Carbon Cycle
The movement of carbon, in its
many forms, between the biosphere,
atmosphere, oceans, and geosphere
is described by the carbon cycle,
illustrated in the adjacent diagram.
The carbon cycle is one of the biogeochemical cycles. In the
cycle there are various sinks, or stores, of carbon (represented
by the boxes) and processes by which the various sinks
exchange carbon (the arrows).

We are all familiar with how the atmosphere and vegetation

exchange carbon. Plants absorb CO2 from the atmosphere during photosynthesis, also
called primary production, and release CO2 back in to the atmosphere during
respiration. Another major exchange of CO 2 occurs between the oceans and the
atmosphere. The dissolved CO2 in the oceans is used by marine biota in
photosynthesis.

Two other important processes are fossil fuel burning and changing land use. In fossil
fuel burning, coal, oil, natural gas, and gasoline are consumed by industry, power
plants, and automobiles. Notice that the arrow goes only one way: from industry to the
atmosphere. Changing land use is a broad term which encompasses a host of
essentially human activities. They include agriculture, deforestation, and reforestation.

The adjacent diagram shows the carbon cycle with the mass of carbon, in gigatons of
carbon (Gt C), in each sink and for each process, if known. The amount of carbon
being exchanged in each process determines whether the specific sink is growing or
shrinking. For instance, the ocean absorbs 2.5 Gt C more from the atmosphere than it
gives off to the atmosphere. All other things being equal, the ocean sink is growing at
a rate of 2.5 Gt C per year and the atmospheric sink is decreasing at an equal rate. But
other things are not equal. Fossil fuel burning is increasing the atmosphere's store of
carbon by 6.1 Gt C each year, and the atmosphere is also interacting with vegetation
and soil. Furthermore, there is changing land use.

The carbon cycle is obviously very complex, and each process has an impact on the
other processes. If primary production drops, then decay to the soil drops. But does
this mean that decay from the soil to the atmosphere will also drop and thus balance
out the cycle so that the store of carbon in the atmosphere will remain constant? Not
necessarily; it could continue at its current rate for a number of years, and thus the
atmosphere would have to absorb the excess carbon being released from the soil. But
this increase of atmospheric carbon (in the form of CO 2) may stimulate the ocean to
increase its uptake of CO2 .

What is known is that the carbon cycle must be a closed system; in other words, there
is a fixed amount of carbon in the world and it must be somewhere. Scientists are
actively investigating the carbon cycle to see if their data does indeed indicate a
balancing of the cycle. These types of investigations have led many scientists to
believe that the forests of the Northern Hemisphere are, in fact, absorbing 3.5 Gt C per
year, and so changing land use is actually removing carbon from the atmosphere (~2
Gt C/year), not increasing it as the diagram shows. Experiments are ongoing to
confirm this information.