Detailed revision notes covering the Water and Carbon topic of the AQA Geography Course.
The notes include case studies, necessary knowledge and essay plan structured arguments.
The structure of the notes is as follows;
3.1.1.1 Water and carbon cycles as natural systems 2
Systems in phys...
3.1.1.1 Water and carbon cycles as natural systems
Systems in physical geography
Flow/transfer - a form of linkage between one store/component and another that involves
movement of energy or mass.
Input - The addition of matter and or energy into a system
Store/component - a part of the system where energy/mass is stored or transformed
System - a set of interrelated components working together towards some kind of process
Boundaries - Limits to the system e.g. watershed
Open systems - revive inputs and transfer outputs of energy or matter with other systems.
Closed systems - when energy inputs = outputs aka when dynamic equilibrium is achieved
Isolated systems - no interactions with anything outside of the system, boundary snd there is no
inputs or outputs - usually takes place in labs as very few natural systems are isolated.
Positive feedback - when a chain of events ampli es the impact of thee original event
Negative feedback - when a chain of events nulli es the impact of the original event leading to
dynamic equilibrium.
The earth itself can be studied using a systems approach as it can be considered a closed
systems —> energy comes in from solar energy and is balanced by the radiant energy lost by the
earth.
At the global level, the earth has 4 major subsystems;
1. Atmosphere
2. Lithosphere
3. Biosphere
4. Hydrosphere
Each of these can be considered an open system that forms part of a chain; a cascading system
fifi
,Water cycle diagram
Carbon cycle diagram
, 3.1.1.3 The carbon cycle
Anthropogenic CO2 - Carbon dioxide generated by human activity
Biosphere - the total sum of all living matter
Carbon sequestration - the capture of CO2 from the atmosphere of capturing anthropogenic
CO2 from large scale sources like power plants before its released into the atmosphere.
Carbon sink - a store of carbon that absorbs more than it releases
Greenhouse gas - any gaseous compound in the atmosphere that is capable or absorbing
infrared radiation, thereby trapping and holding heat in the atmosphere
Lithosphere - the crust and uppermost mantle
Weathering - the breakdown of rocks in situ (original place) by a combination of weather, plants
and animals
Global distribution; the size of major carbon stores
Carbon atoms move through the carbon cycle in many various forms;
- Carbon dioxide - respiration
- Methane - cows - enteric fermentation
- Calcium carbonate - methanogenesis
- Hydrocarbons - industry
- Bio-molecules - organisms
Origins of carbon on earth
• Primary source of CO2 is the earths interior - it was stored in the mantle when the earth was
formed and since has escaped at plate boundaries and hot spot volcanoes.
• Much of the CO2 released at destructive margins is derived from metamorphism of carbonate
rocks subducting with the ocean crust
• Some CO2 remains in the atmosphere, some sin the oceans, some in biomass living and dead
and decaying organisms
Major stores of carbon
Lithosphere - stores over 99.985% of carbon in the world
• Marine sediments and sedimentary rock - 100 million GtC
• Soil organic matter - 1,500-1,600 GtC
• Fossil fuel deposits of coal - 4,100 GtC
• Peat - 250 GtC
Hydrosphere - 0.0076% carbon in world
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