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Ride the water. Slide away! Slosh toward the sea, then slip into SEDIMENT.
Go through the process of RUNOFF.
When soil gets saturated with water—from rain, snow melt or river floods—bits of soil float off into streams and rivers that feed into the oceans, where they may settle to the bottom. Through this part of the water cycle, nutritious carbon in the organic matter in soil is transported throughout the environment.
BEGIN AS: Soil Organic Matter. BECOME: Sedimentary Organic Matter.
Q = (P-I)2/(P-I+S)
Runoff = (Rainfall - Water Stored)2/(Rainfall - Water Stored + Water Absorbed)
Water flows from higher elevations toward the ocean in the process of runoff.
Learn much more with Wikipedia: Surface_runoff, Water_cycle
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That place stinks. Escape that dark, dank den. Rise back up to the fresh blue skies. Drift into the ATMOSPHERE!
Go through the process of RESPIRATION.
Microorganisms don't have lungs, but they still release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere as they decompose fallen plants and animals. This is called respiration, though it is not "breathing." Soil holds lots of carbon in the form of matter left behind by dead plants and animals. This organic matter is eaten by bacteria, fungi, worms, bugs and other tiny creatures. The carbon returns to the atmosphere in the form of carbon dioxide as these microorganisms use the stored energy to live and grow.
The amount of carbon dioxide soil respires into the atmosphere is equal to half the amount that terrestrial plants take up each year.
BEGIN AS: Soil Organic Matter. BECOME: Carbon Dioxide.
C6H12O6 => 2 C2H5OH + 2 C02
Sugar = Ethanol + Carbon Dioxide
Complex organic molecules are broken down to simpler forms in the process of respiration.
Learn much more with Wikipedia: Cellular_respiration, Soil_respiration
You are Carbon in Soil
Seems everybody ends up mingling down here with us—bugs, birds, badgers, bees, even mountains. The high and the low come together at our level.
Soil contains more carbon than all land biomass and the atmosphere combined.
Soil is full of life. Some can be seen: worms, ants, the roots of plants. Many millions of microscopic organisms live there, too, like bacteria and fungi, microorganisms that decompose organic matter. Decomposers in soil act to recycle the nutrients from decaying organisms. As they break down plant and animal bodies bit by bit they leave behind some nutrients in simpler forms making them available to be spread into the food web. Soil Organic Matter provides nutrients that plants need to grow.
We have bacteria in our bodies that helps us break down the carbon bonds in our food. The parts of our food that don't get fully digested and incorporated into our bodies quickly return to the environment.
45% minerals, 25% water, 25% air, 5% organic matter
Learn much more with Wikipedia: Soil, Soil_carbon
