BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES DEPARTMENT

DE LA SALLE UNIVERSITY-DASMARINAS
 All matter cycles...it is neither created nor
destroyed...


As the Earth is essentially a closed system
with respect to matter, we can say that all
matter on Earth cycles .
Biogeochemical cycles
 the movement (or cycling) of matter
through a system

in general... we can subdivide the Earth system

into:

atmosphere
hydrosphere
lithosphere
biosphere
by matter we mean:
 elements
carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, sulfur or

 molecules
water

so the movement of matter between these parts

of the system is a:

biogeochemical cycle
The Cycling Elements:

A. MACRONUTRIENTS
 required in relatively large amounts

"big six"
1. carbon
2. hydrogen
3. oxygen
4. nitrogen
5. phosphorous
6. sulfur
 other macronutrients:

> potassium
> calcium
> iron
> magnesium
B. MICRONUTIENTS
 required in very small amounts but still
necessary

1. boron (green plants)

2. copper (some enzymes)
3. molybdenum (nitrogen-fixing
bacteria)
 the cycling of chemical elements
is required by life between the
living and nonliving parts of the
environment

 elements cycle in either a gas

cycle or a sedimentary cycle;
some cycle as both a gas and
sediment
GAS CYCLE
 elements move through the atmosphere

 Main reservoirs are the atmosphere and

the ocean

SEDIMENTARY CYCLE
 elements move from land to water to
sediment
 Main reservoirs are the soil and
sedimentary rocks.
A. Gas Cycles
Carbon
Nitrogen
Oxygen

B. Sedimentary Cycles
Phosphorus
Sulfur
 Evaporation

 Condensation

 Precipitation
 Nitrogen (N) is an essential constituent of
protein, DNA, RNA, and chlorophyll.

 N is the most abundant gas in the

atmosphere, but it must be fixed or
converted into a usable form.
 Ammonification
 Production of ammonia from decay of organic
organism
 Nitrification
 Conversion of ammonia to nitrate (NO3)
 Assimilation
 Nitrogen is incorporated into protein molecules by
plants. Their waste returns nitrogen to the soil as urea
and other compounds that are converted to ammonia.
 Denitrification
 Some bacteri cause nitrogen to return at the
atmosphere by breaking down ammonia into soil.
1) High energy fixation- a small amount of
atmospheric nitrogen is fixed by lightening.
The high energy combines N and H2O
resulting in ammonia (NH3) and nitrates
(NO3).
These forms are carried to Earth in
precipitation.
2) Biological fixation: achieves 90% of the
nitrogen fixation.
Atmospheric nitrogen (N2) is split and
combined with hydrogen (H) atoms to form
ammonia (NH3).
 symbiotic bacteria (eg. Rhizobium spp.)
living in association with leguminous (
plants in the pea family), and root-noduled
non- leguminous plants (eg. Alnus spp.)
 free-living anaerobic bacteria
 blue-green algae (cyanobacteria)
Once NH3 is in the soil it combines with H+
ions to form ammonium ion (NH4), or
without it to form NO3. NH4+ and NO3 are
readily absorbed by plants.
 Carbon (C) enters the biosphere during
photosynthesis:

CO2 + H2O ---> C6H12O6 + O2 + H2O

 Carbon is returned to the biosphere in

cellular respiration:

O2 +H2O + C6H12O6 ---> CO2 +H2O +

energy
 An atom of carbon is absorbed from the air into the ocean
water where it is used by little floating plankton doing
photosynthesis to get the nutrition they need.
 this little carbon atom becomes part of the plankton’s
skeleton, or a part of the skeleton of the larger animal
that eats it, and then part of a sedimentary rock when the
living things die and only bones are left behind.
 Carbon that is a part of rocks and fossil fuels like oil, coal,
and natural gas may be held away from the rest of the
carbon cycle for a long time.
 These long-term storage places are called “sinks”.
 When fossil fuels are burned, carbon that had been
underground is sent into the air as carbon dioxide, a
greenhouse gas.
 Every year there is a measurable
difference in the concentration of
atmospheric CO2 in phase with the
seasons.

For example, in winter there is

almost no photosynthesis therefore
there is a high concentration of CO2.
 During the growing season there is a
measurable difference in the concentration
of atmospheric CO2 over parts of each day.

For example, at sunrise photosynthesis

begins with the uptake of CO2, by
afternoon plant respiration increases, at
sunset photosynthesis stops so the
concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere
increases.
 The Earth is getting warmer.
 The 20th century has been the warmest in the
last 600 years.
 This century is about 1 degree Fahrenheit
warmer than last century.
 The balance of evidence suggests that burning of
fossil fuel (eg. coal, oil, natural gas), which emits
CO2 as a waste, is the cause.
 CO2 is a "Green House" gas - it traps heat at the
Earth's surface. (H2O vapor and methane are also
examples of green house gases)
 Plants start blooming 8 days earlier in
spring than 11 years ago.
 Birds from the United Kingom lay eggs
earlier.
 Buds on trees appear earlier and leaves fall
later in the Northern Hemisphere.
 Alaska, North West Canada, and Siberia
have warmed up as much as 5 degrees
Fahrenheit in the last 30 years.
 Water carries phosphorus as it wears away over
rocks
 Insoluble phosphorus are deposited on the sea
floor and during geological process may uplift
exposing sediment on land and be again eroded
 Plants roots absorb the phosphorus in the soil in
the form of phosphate
 Animals obtain those phosphates as organic
compounds from food they eat or from drinking
water with inorganic phosphate
 Guano brings back phosphates through excretion
into soil to enter into the cycle
a. photodisassociation of H2O vapor

b. photosynthesis
1) As a constituent of CO2 it circulates freely throughout
the biosphere.
2) Some CO2 combines with Ca to form carbonates.
3) O2 combines with nitrogen compounds to form
nitrates
4) O2 combines with iron compounds to form ferric
oxides.
5) Photosynthesis and respiration
6) O2 in the troposphere is reduced to O3 (ozone).
Ground level O3 is a pollutant which damages lungs.