Carbon photosynthetic studies

The 14C age determination of the fulvic acid isolated rom water near the lake surface was 2300 years before the present, whereas the 14C age was 4900 years before the present for the fulvic acid isolated from water below the chemocline. These old ages for both fulvic acids from Big Soda Lake are in marked contrast to that reported for fulvic acid from the Suwannee River, less than 30 years before the present (11). The refractory nature of this type of fulvic acid derived from phytoplankton and photosynthetic bacteria is significant for carbon-cycling studies. 

E.A. Laws, M.R. Landry, R.T. Barber, L. Campbell, M.-L. Dickson, J. Marra (2000). Carbon cycling in primary production bottle incubations inferences from grazing experiments and photosynthetic studies using 14C and 180 in the Arabian Sea. Deep-Sea Res., 47, 1339-1352. 

The outcome of the photosynthesis processes is ultimately similar in all green plants carbon dioxide from the atmosphere is taken up by the plants, where it reacts with water to form carbohydrates and oxygen the carbohydrates are assimilated by the plants while the oxygen is released to the atmosphere (see Textbox 53). Extensive studies have shown that the conversion of carbon dioxide and water into carbohydrates in different plants may follow, however, one of three different photosynthetic pathways, which are usually referred to as the C3, C4, and CAM paths. Each type of plant follows just one of these three pathways. 

ABSTRACT The locations, magnitudes, variations and mechanisms responsible for the atmospheric C02 sink are uncertain and under debate. Previous studies concentrated mainly on oceans, and soil and terrestrial vegetation as sinks. Here, we show that there is an important C02 sink in carbonate dissolution, the global water cycle and photosynthetic uptake of DIC by aquatic ecosystems. The sink constitutes up to 0.82 Pg C/a 0.24 Pg C/a is delivered to oceans via rivers and 0.22 Pg C/a by meteoric precipitation, 0.12 Pg C/a is returned to the atmosphere, and 0.23 Pg C/a is stored in the continental aquatic ecosystem. The net sink could be as much as 0.70 Pg C/a, may increase with intensification of the global water cycle, increase in C02 and carbonate dust in atmosphere, reforestation/afforestation, and with fertilization of aquatic ecosystems. Under the projection of global warming for the year 2100, it is estimated that this C02 sink may increase by 22%, or about 0.18 Pg c/a. 

Algae seem to offer better opportunities for study than land plants because of their simpler structure and intimate thermal contact with a large excess of water. The matter of respiration is troublesome, for, in the dark, the living cells consume oxygen and liberate carbon dioxide in direct opposition to the photosynthetic reaction. It has been assumed that respiration is the same in the light as in the dark, but this assumption is of doubtful validity. Further investigation of respiration is necessary. 

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