gen-explain-the-carbon-cycle-in-rocks-as-you-would-to-a-capable-da1b

Explain the carbon cycle in rocks as you would to a capable student, in 3-4 sentences.

The rock carbon cycle moves carbon between the atmosphere, oceans, and Earth's crust over millions of years. When atmospheric CO₂ dissolves in rainwater, it forms weak carbonic acid that chemically weathers rocks, eventually washing dissolved carbon into the oceans where organisms use it to build shells and skeletons. These carbon-containing remains accumulate on the seafloor and are compressed into sedimentary rocks like limestone, which can be subducted deep into Earth where heat and pressure release the carbon as CO₂ through volcanic eruptions, returning it to the atmosphere. This geological carbon cycle is extremely slow but stores far more carbon than the atmosphere and biosphere combined.