11The Earth’s Climate System
Through a process called diffusion, various gasses that contain carbon
move between the ocean’s surface and the atmosphere. Because of this,
plants in the ocean use CO
2
from the water for photosynthesis, which means
that ocean plants store carbon, just as land plants do. When ocean animals
consume these plants, they then store the carbon. Then when they die, they
sink to the bottom and decompose, and their remains become incorporated
in the sediments on the bottom of the ocean.
Once in the ocean, the carbon can go through various processes: it can form
rocks, then weather, and it can also be used in the formation of shells. Carbon
can move to and from different depths of the ocean and also exchange w