Answer the following about geochemical box models, for 10 points each.
[10e] A box’s source and sink flux are equal in this approximation, which, in chemical kinetics, sets the rate of change of an intermediate’s concentration to zero.
ANSWER: steady-state approximation [or SSA; accept quasi-steady-state approximation or QSSA; accept pseudo-steady-state approximation or PSSA]
[10h] Similar to first-order kinetics, if sink flux equals k times the amount of substance in the box, this quantity is “one over k.” Residence time can be set equal to this quantity, which equals water volume over volumetric flow rate.
ANSWER: turnover time [accept renewal time or flushing time]
[10m] Carbon flux between the ocean surface box and the atmosphere box is modified by the Revelle factor, which accounts for the fractional change in this form of carbon known by a three-letter initialism. This form of carbon represents the amount of aqueous CO2, H2CO3, HCO3− (“H-C-O-3-minus”), and CO3 2− (“C-O-3 two-minus”).
ANSWER: dissolved inorganic carbon [or DIC; or total inorganic carbon or TIC; accept TCO2 or CT; prompt on inorganic carbon]
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