Carbon (Organic, Cycling)
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CARBON (ORGANIC, CYCLING)
CARBON (ORGANIC, CYCLING) Amber K. Hardison, Elizabeth A. Canuel Virginia Institute of Marine Science, Gloucester Point, VA, USA
Definition Organic carbon (OC) refers to any carbon that occurs in compounds of ultimately biological origin that can be oxidized. Introduction Carbon is made up of organic and inorganic fractions, and the biochemical and geochemical cycling of these forms through the Earth processes is referred to as the global carbon cycle. The global carbon cycle is closely linked to other global cycles such as oxygen, nitrogen, and sulfur because of the important role these elements play in biological processes. Organic carbon (OC) is present in both living and nonliving systems and ultimately fuels all of the Earth’s biogeochemical processes (Summons, 1993); therefore, understanding the formation, cycling, and preservation of OC is essential to understanding the cycling of
all bioelements between living and nonliving reservoirs, the formation of economically important petroleum and coal deposits, and predicting how human activity may change the natural balance of these systems. Much of the OC created during photosynthesis or by chemosynthetic autotrophs is decomposed by heterotrophic organisms. Heterotrophic processes occur in the water column of marine and aquatic environments, as well as in sediments, soils, and rocks. Much of the decomposition of organic matter (OM) occurs under low temperature (
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