Carbon Stores
Carbon stores (or carbon reservoirs) are locations where carbon is accumulated and held in various forms. Major stores include the atmosphere (carbon dioxide), biosphere (organisms), soil (organic matter), oceans (dissolved carbon and carbonate), and lithosphere (fossil fuels and carbonate rocks).
Real World
The Permian Basin in Texas holds an estimated 70 billion barrels of oil — a lithospheric carbon store formed over 250 million years — releasing millennia of stored carbon within decades when burned for fuel.
Exam Focus
When asked to 'compare' stores, always quantify using gigatonnes and contrast timescales of formation and release to access top marks.
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