The exponent of the Martin curve describes the depth in the ocean at which particulate organic matter undergoes this process. For 10 points each:
[10h] Name this process, in which oceanic microorganisms transform organic carbon to carbon dioxide. More broadly, it refers to the conversion of any organic material into the simplest possible inorganic form.
ANSWER: remineralization
[10m] Remineralization of carbon is an important part of this system, in which the ocean uses organisms to sequester carbon from land and the atmosphere, converting some of it to energy and moving some of it to the ocean sediment.
ANSWER: biological pump [accept the ocean carbon biological pump or marine biological carbon pump; prompt on carbon cycle; reject “physical carbon pump” or “physical pump”]
[10e] Some of the carbon is converted into this ionic compound, which is used to make coral skeletons and mollusc shells. This compound also comprises the mineral that defines Mohs hardness 3.
ANSWER: calcium carbonate [or CaCO3; prompt on calcite or aragonite or carbonate]
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