Editing Biogeochemical cycle (section)

==Fast and slow cycles==

[[File:Carbon cycle.jpg|thumb|upright=1.5| The fast cycle operates through the biosphere, including exchanges between land, atmosphere, and oceans. The yellow numbers are natural fluxes of carbon in billions of tons (gigatons) per year. Red are human contributions and white are stored carbon.<ref name="nasacc">{{cite web|last1=Riebeek|first1=Holli|title=The Carbon Cycle|url=http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/CarbonCycle/?src=eoa-features|website=Earth Observatory|publisher=NASA|access-date=5 April 2018|date=16 June 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305010126/http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/CarbonCycle/?src=eoa-features|archive-date=5 March 2016|url-status=live|df=dmy-all}}</ref>]]

[[File:Rock cycle nps.PNG|thumb|upright=1.5|right| The slow cycle operates in the lithosphere through rocks, including volcanic and tectonic activity]]

There are fast and slow biogeochemical cycles. Fast cycle operate in the [[biosphere]] and slow cycles operate in the [[lithosphere]] in [[rock (geology)|rocks]]. Fast or biological cycles can complete within years, moving substances from atmosphere to biosphere, then back to the atmosphere. Slow or geological cycles can take millions of years to complete, moving substances through the Earth's [[Earth's crust|crust]] between rocks, soil, ocean and atmosphere.<ref name=Libes2015>Libes, Susan M. (2015). [https://books.google.com/books?id=5tC9CgAAQBAJ&dq=%22blue+planet%22+libes&pg=PA89 Blue planet: The role of the oceans in nutrient cycling, maintain the atmosphere system, and modulating climate change] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210120070507/https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=5tC9CgAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PA89&dq=%22blue+planet%22+libes&ots=oesDSXq1NZ&sig=B7HrLG0Y6iE9p_AqfDfSVktQGN4#v=onepage&q=%22blue%20planet%22%20libes&f=false |date=2021-01-20 }} In: ''Routledge Handbook of Ocean Resources and Management'', Routledge, pages 89–107. {{isbn|9781136294822}}.</ref>

As an example, the fast carbon cycle is illustrated in the diagram on the right. This cycle involves relatively short-term [[biogeochemical]] processes between the environment and living organisms in the biosphere. It includes movements of carbon between the atmosphere and terrestrial and marine ecosystems, as well as soils and [[seafloor sediments]]. The fast cycle includes annual cycles involving photosynthesis and decadal cycles involving vegetative growth and decomposition. The reactions of the fast carbon cycle to human activities will determine many of the more immediate impacts of climate change.<ref name=Bush2020 /><ref>{{cite journal |doi = 10.1073/pnas.022055499|title = Atmospheric carbon dioxide levels for the last 500 million years|year = 2002|last1 = Rothman|first1 = D. H.|journal = Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences|volume = 99|issue = 7|pages = 4167–4171|pmid = 11904360|pmc = 123620|bibcode = 2002PNAS...99.4167R|doi-access = free}}</ref><ref name=Carpinteri2019>{{cite journal |doi = 10.3390/sci1010017|title = Correlation between the Fluctuations in Worldwide Seismicity and Atmospheric Carbon Pollution|year = 2019|last1 = Carpinteri|first1 = Alberto|last2 = Niccolini|first2 = Gianni|journal = Sci|volume = 1|page = 17|doi-access = free}} [[File:CC-BY icon.svg|50px]] Material was copied from this source, which is available under a [https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171016050101/https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |date=2017-10-16 }}.</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Rothman|first=Daniel|date=January 2015|title=Earth's carbon cycle: A mathematical perspective|url=https://www.ams.org/bull/2015-52-01/S0273-0979-2014-01471-5/|journal=Bulletin of the American Mathematical Society|language=en|volume=52|issue=1|pages=47–64|doi=10.1090/S0273-0979-2014-01471-5|issn=0273-0979|hdl=1721.1/97900|hdl-access=free|access-date=2021-09-27|archive-date=2021-11-22|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211122221018/https://www.ams.org/journals/bull/2015-52-01/S0273-0979-2014-01471-5/|url-status=live}}</ref>

The slow cycle is illustrated in the other diagram. It involves medium to long-term [[geochemical]] processes belonging to the [[rock cycle]]. The exchange between the ocean and atmosphere can take centuries, and the [[weathering]] of rocks can take millions of years. Carbon in the ocean precipitates to the ocean floor where it can form [[sedimentary rock]] and be [[subducted]] into the [[Earth's mantle]]. [[Mountain building]] processes result in the return of this geologic carbon to the Earth's surface. There the rocks are weathered and carbon is returned to the atmosphere by [[degassing]] and to the ocean by rivers. Other geologic carbon returns to the ocean through the [[Hydrothermal circulation|hydrothermal emission]] of calcium ions. In a given year between 10 and 100 million tonnes of carbon moves around this slow cycle. This includes volcanoes returning geologic carbon directly to the atmosphere in the form of carbon dioxide. However, this is less than one percent of the carbon dioxide put into the atmosphere by burning fossil fuels.<ref name=Libes2015 /><ref name=Bush2020>{{cite book|doi = 10.1007/978-3-030-15424-0_3|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=h_60DwAAQBAJ&q=%22Climate+Change+and+Renewable+Energy%22+%22The+Carbon+Cycle%22chapter+%3D+The+Carbon+Cycle&pg=PA109|title = Climate Change and Renewable Energy|year = 2020|last1 = Bush|first1 = Martin J.|pages = 109–141|isbn = 978-3-030-15423-3|s2cid = 210305910|access-date = 2021-09-27|archive-date = 2021-09-27|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210927001642/https://books.google.com/books?id=h_60DwAAQBAJ&q=%22Climate+Change+and+Renewable+Energy%22+%22The+Carbon+Cycle%22chapter+%3D+The+Carbon+Cycle&pg=PA109|url-status = live}}</ref>