§  Global Carbon Cycle
                -Plant/soil hold 460-575 billion metric tons of carbon
                -Each acre of  tropical rainforest about 180 metric tons of carbon
                -Forest burned =>carbon released, joins with oxygen, goes into atmosphere as CO2

        §  Methane Cycle
                    -Water in wetlands/floating meadows cuts off oxygen supply to soil
                                -Anaerobic fermentation forms methane
                                -More wetlands, more methane released into atmosphere   7. ,  8.
        §  Erosion/Flooding
                    -Deforested areas, rains wash away topsoil/nutrients
                    -Trees roots hold soil together to slow rate of flow of moving water, reducing erosion
                    -Trees and fauna absorb water in rainy season
                    -Deforestation can lead to flooding, washing away of soil, humus and micro-fauna 5.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology                               Contact:  lacooney@mit.edu

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Research Bibliography

1.      Palaeoceanography  Environmental Change Research Centre

2.      Land Surface Hydrology and Water Chemistry The Large Scale Biosphere-Atmosphere Experiment in Amazonia (LBA)

3.     The source of the Amazon River was just recently discovered. Why did it take so long?  National Geographic Society

4.     Tropical Deforestation Fact Sheet   NASA Earth Observatory

5.     Effects of Deforestation

6.     Amazonia - Resiliency and Dynamism of the Land and its People  Nigel J.H. Smith, Emanuel Adilson S. Serrão, Paulo T. Alvim, and Italo C. Falesi,  United Nations University

7.    Solving the Amazon?s climate riddle  By Ginger Pinholster, SCIENCE

8.    Fish in the Trees   by Rachel Hauser, NASA Earth Observatory

9.    River Seasons  by Laura Cheshire, NASA Earth Observatory

10.  http://www.gsfc.nasa.gov/gsfc/educ/science/2001/01-04-01.htm

11.  Amazon Deconstruction:  Cause and Effect    camille, charlie, hsing hsing, maya, pete, University of Washington

12.  "Applications of Hillslope Process Hydrology in Forest Land Management Issues:  The Tropical North-East Australian Experience", Mike Bonell

13.  Dictionary of Geography, Oxford University Press

14.  "WATER RESOURCES MANAGEMENT FOR ENERGY GENERATION PURPOSES IN STREAMS PRESENTING STRONG SEASONAL FLOW VARIATIONS - PLANNING ASPECTS",
                    Bela Petry & Doron Grull
 
 

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology                               Contact:  lacooney@mit.edu