The Long Term Carbon Cycle

The Long-term carbon cycles takes place over hundreds of thousands of years. This is longer than the entire scope of human civilization.

A significant portion of our planet's carbon is stored below the earth's surface at any one time. Exchanges between this vast reservoir and other portions of carbon cycle take place very slowly. However, even at this slow pace, the long-term carbon cycle has played a key role in regulating atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration throughout much of earth's history. The weathering of rock, deposition of sediment, compression of biomass into fossil fuels, movement of tectonic plates and activity of volcanoes are important interfaces in the long-term carbon cycle.