Biogeochemical Cycle

E N V I R O N M E N TA L C YC L E S
• Energy Flow: uni-directional process/one directional flow and open System
• Nutrient Cycle: close system: biotic-abiotic-biotic
• Nutrients are necessary for growth for metabolism
• BIO (life) + GEO (earth) + Chemical (N, C, S, P, O…) + Cycles (circulations)

Nutrient transfer to one source to another source:

• Atmosphere: gases= N, 78% O2=21% CO2=0.03%
• Hydrosphere: water bodies= 97% marine, 2% glacial and ice caps, 1% fora & fauna
• Lithosphere: upper mantle and crust, minerals
• Biosphere: abiotic (lithos.+hydro.+ atm.) + biotic (organisms)

2 main types of Nutrient Cycles:

- Gaseous : transfer in the atmosphere: N, C, O and Water Cycle
- Sedimentary: transfer in the Lithosphere: P and S
• N is 78% in the atmosphere: e.g. amino acids, DNA, RNA etc.
• Atm. N (or N2) in gaseous form; not useful since it is not converted
• N forms for growth of organisms: ammonia (NH3), nitrate (NO2-), nitrite
(NO3-)
• 4th Nitrogen Process
• Nitrogen Fixation process: the atm. N (or N2) is converted to NH3
• 2 types of N fixation process: atmospheric N fixation (lightning) and biological N
fixation (micro organisms, symbiotic bacteria)
• Nitrification Process: NH3 is converted to nitrite (NO3- + bacteria) and then
nitrate (NO2- + bacteria) in the soils; that becomes useful nutrient for plants
• Ammonification Process: nitrate (NO2- + bacteria) is converted to NH3. That
is N consumed by plants + consumers = decomposed (soil) material to NH3
• Denitrification Process: nitrate (NO2- + bacteria) is converted back to atm. N
• Water in a universal solvent in 3 state: solid (ice and snow), liquid (surface
water and sub surface water) and gas (vapor)
• water resources is present both: water surface and in soil in moisture form
Different process:
• Evaporation: water goes to the atm. in gaseous form due to the sun
• Transpiration: water goes to atm. in gaseous form due to plant evaporation
• Condensation: water in the atm. at low temp. becomes clouds
• Precipitation: water in the atm. at low temp. becomes water droplets
• Surface Run-off: precipitated water flow and flow back to water surface
reservoirs
• Infiltration: precipitated water flow and seeps into the soil surface back to
water sub surface reservoirs
8 physical processes
1. Evaporation- transformation of liquid water to water vapour
2. Condensation- physical state of matter from gas phase into liquid phase, and is
the reverse of evaporation
3. Precipitation- drizzle, rain, sleet, snow, graupel and hail
4. Infiltration- water on the ground surface enters the soil
5. Surface runoff- flow of water that occurs when excess stormwater, meltwater, or
other sources flows
6. Subsurface flow- underground flow
7. Sublimation- e.g. dry ice, phase transition of a substance directly from the solid to
the gas without passing through the liquid phase
8. Transpiration- water vapour emission from plant surfaces
• Evapotranspiration- the combined process of water surface evaporation, soil
moisture evaporation, and plant transpiration
• Carbon is present in organic matter; referred to as the "building block of
life"
• Atm. CO2 is 0.02%
Carbon compounds are present:
(1) living things (plants and animals) and (2) non-living (rocks and soils)
Carbon compounds can exist as:
(1) solids (diamonds or coal), (2) liquids (crude oil) and (3) gases (CO2)
• Photosynthesis process plants (producers) consumes CO2
• Respiration process plants (producers) release CO2 to the atm.
• Respiration process animals (consumers) release CO2 to the atm.
• Combustion process:
• death (decomposition) of organic matter: plants and animal results to fossil fuels;
• burning of fossil fuels results to released CO2to the atm.
Carbon Movements
Carbon moves from the atmosphere to plants. carbon is attached to oxygen in a gas called carbon
dioxide (CO2). Through the process of photosynthesis, carbon dioxide is pulled from the air to make plant food
from carbon.

Carbon moves from plants to animals. Through food chains, the carbon that is in plants moves to
the animals that eat them. Animals that eat other animals get the carbon from their food too.

Carbon moves from plants and animals to the ground. When plants and animals die, their bodies, wood and
leaves decay bringing the carbon into the ground. Some become buried miles underground and will become
fossil fuels.

Carbon moves from living things to the atmosphere. Each time you exhale, you are releasing carbon dioxide
gas (CO2) into the atmosphere. Animals and plants get rid of carbon dioxide gas through a process called
respiration.

Carbon moves from fossil fuels to the atmosphere when fuels are burned. Human activities and burning fossil
fuels results to carbon entering the atmosphere as carbon dioxide gas. Each year, five and a half billion tons of
carbon is released by burning fossil fuels where 3.3 billion tons enters the atmosphere and the rest becomes
dissolved in seawater.

Carbon moves from the atmosphere to the oceans. The oceans, and other bodies of water, soak up some
carbon from the atmosphere.
• P is transferred in the 3 main spheres (only)
• Lithosphere, Hydrosphere and organisms except Atmosphere
• P is main components include nucleic acids (RNA and DNA),
energy storing molecules and animals (bones and teeth)
• P is the slowest cycle= time to transfer and complete its cycle
• 2 divisions: (1) small cycle and (2) global cycle
• Small cycle: Phosphate: nutrient for growth of plants (producers),
transferred to consumers and then to the decomposers in the soil;
• Global cycle: in coastal regions (P + Cu, Al, Fe etc.) P layers are
converted into rocks then due to geological uplifting (volcano,
earthquake, tsunami, weathering), the phosphate breaks down
and goes back to the soil
• S is always in solid form, 10th most abundant element
• S is in the composition of amino acids, proteins, vitamins and enzymes
• Main reservoir: rocks and oceans
S Cycle factors:
• Volcanic activity= gas released sulphur dioxide and hydrogen sulfide
• Human activity= gas released sulphur oxides (vehicles and industries)
• Fora and Fauna activity= S liquid released: acid deposition to earth from rain;
• the acids, sulfate ions return to the earth/soil; consumed by plants (producers) as sulfate
salts; consumed by animals (consumers) by deposition become metal as hydrogen sulfides;
hydrogen sulfide with soil sulfur containing bacteria return to the atm.; hydrogen sulfide
with soil sulfur containing bacteria return to the atm.

Factors of acid Rain…

• sulfur dioxide in the atm. mixed with oxygen = sulfur trioxide
• sulfur trioxide can deactivate with water = sulfuric acid
• sulfur trioxide can deactivate with ammonia = ammonium sulfate
4 main reservoirs:
atmosphere (air), 21% oxygen by volume
 mainly as free oxygen molecules (O2)
 Includes: ozone (O3), carbon dioxide (CO2), water vapour (H2O), and sulphur and nitrogen
oxides (SO2, NO, N2O, etc.)

biosphere is 22% oxygen by volume mainly as a component of organic molecules

(CxHxNxOx) and water molecules

hydrosphere is 33% oxygen by volume present mainly as a component of water

molecules with dissolved molecules including free oxygen and carbonic acids
(HxCO3)

lithosphere is 94% oxygen by volume mainly as silica minerals (SiO2) and other
oxide minerals

• main driving factor is photosynthesis, which is responsible for the Earth's

atmosphere and life on earth
POPULATION EXPLOSION URBAN DISASTER-RISKS URBAN SPRAWL

ROAD SAFETY AND SECURITY ISSUES ROAD AND MOTORIZATION ISSUES URBANIZATION & LAND USE ISSUES
Assignment 2

Discuss specific ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES

that affect the biogeochemical cycle