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Carbon is exchanged among Earth’s atmosphere, biosphere, soils, waters, and rocks through fast (biological) and slow (geological) pathways.
The carbon cycle is a biogeochemical exchange system in which carbon is transferred among Earth’s biosphere, pedosphere (soils), geosphere (rocks), hydrosphere (waters), and atmosphere. It includes both rapid recycling processes that move carbon between the atmosphere and living ecosystems (and back) and long-term geological sequestration and release that store carbon in sinks such as sediments, fossil fuels, and Earth’s interior. Natural fluxes between major carbon reservoirs are often roughly balanced, but human activities—especially land-use change and the mining and burning of ancient carbon (coal, petroleum, and gas)—have increased atmospheric CO2 substantially, driving climate change and altering ocean chemistry (including ocean acidification). The cycle is commonly described using major carbon pools: the atmosphere (mainly CO2 and methane), the terrestrial biosphere (living biomass and soils), the ocean (dissolved inorganic carbon and marine biota, with surface and deep layers), sediments (including fossil fuels and non-living organic material), and Earth’s interior (mantle and crust). Fast cycling occurs through biological processes such as photosynthesis and respiration, while slow cycling occurs through rock weathering, sediment formation, subduction, and volcanic degassing. The ocean is a key active reservoir near the surface and a much larger deep pool that exchanges with the atmosphere over centuries; CO2 dissolves into water, forms carbonic acid, and can be stored as carbonates or transported through the food web and sinking organic matter. Overall, the carbon cycle links biological activity, chemical reactions, and geological processes into a system that regulates Earth’s long-term climate and supports life.
Carbon is exchanged among Earth’s atmosphere, biosphere, soils, waters, and rocks through fast (biological) and slow (geological) pathways.
Major carbon reservoirs include the atmosphere, terrestrial biosphere, ocean (surface and deep layers), sediments/fossil fuels, and Earth’s interior, connected by chemical, physical, geological, and biological processes.
Human land-use change and fossil-fuel burning have increased atmospheric CO2 and contribute to global warming and ocean acidification by disrupting natural carbon balance.
A natural system that describes how chemical elements move between living organisms and non-living Earth compartments through biological, chemical, and physical processes.
Carbon exchange processes that operate on timescales of years or less, moving carbon between the atmosphere and living ecosystems via photosynthesis, respiration, and related biological activity.
Long-term carbon exchange processes that operate on timescales of millions of years, moving carbon through Earth’s crust and mantle via weathering, sedimentation, subduction, and volcanic degassing.
A reservoir or process that absorbs and stores carbon for long periods, reducing the amount of carbon in the atmosphere.
The decrease in ocean pH caused by increased absorption of atmospheric CO2, which forms carbonic acid and alters marine chemistry.
Carbon in the ocean present in inorganic dissolved forms (e.g., CO2(aq), bicarbonate, carbonate) that exchanges with the atmosphere and participates in chemical reactions.
A large-scale ocean circulation driven by differences in temperature and salinity that helps transport carbon between surface and deep ocean layers over long timescales.
A long-term geochemical cycle in which CO2 is removed from the atmosphere through silicate weathering and stored as carbonates, with eventual release through geological processes.
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