Impact of Carbon on Climate and Ocean Processes

Geography
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Question 2
a) It is suggested that the planet Venus had oceans and a different atmosphere (from the
present atmosphere) billion years ago. Over time the solar luminosity increased
gradually which in turn released huge volumes of carbon from the mantle to the
atmosphere. Also, it caused water to evaporate from the oceans to cause a runaway
greenhouse effect. Oceans evaporated into space and the atmosphere was turned into
carbon dioxide. In addition, volcanic eruptions released carbon into the atmosphere
which also contributed to the runaway greenhouse effect. The huge amount of carbon
dioxide in the Venus atmosphere is responsible for maintaining the high temperatures.
Mars is further away from the sun hence experiences reduced solar luminosity. For
this reason, there is minimal evaporation in the atmosphere and most of the carbon are
trapped in the Mars’s mantle. The result is a thinner atmosphere which is not able to
trap a lot of solar energy. The volcanic activities are responsible for releasing
greenhouse gases into the atmosphere but there are not very frequent hence the
surface of Mars remains relatively cold.
Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas that plays a major role in warming the atmosphere
by trapping the suns energy radiated from the earth’s surface. The primary source of
the gas is the outgassing from the interior of the earth along the mid-ocean ridges and
volcanoes. Most of this carbon is absorbed by the ocean, some stored as biomass in
organisms while some retained by carbonate rocks. Processes such as photosynthesis,
respiration, weathering and metamorphism of carbonates regulate the carbon dioxide
to moderate the earth’s climate.
b) The carbon cycle can adjust for instance increased rate of photosynthesis because of
increased solar luminosity reduces the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
This moderates the effect of increased luminosity on the earth's climate. On the other
hand, reduced solar luminosity might be moderated by human activities such as
industrialisation which releases more carbon into the atmosphere. The carbon in
return traps more sunlight energy and hence moderate the earth’s temperature despite
the reduced solar luminosity1.
Question 3
a. Carbon 14 is a natural radionuclide present in the ocean and can be used as a tracer of
the oceanic processes. By application of isotopic techniques, the carbon 14 can be