Biogeochemical Cycles

BY : DRON SHARMA
B.Sc. 3rd Year (BIO)
 What is “Biogeochemical cycle”?

• BIO = LIFE
• GEO = EARTH
• CHEMICAL = ELEMENTS LIKE C , O , N , P , S
A cycling of nutrients ( water, carbon, oxygen, nitrogen,
phosphorous, sulphur ) from the abiotic components (
water, Air, Soil, Rock ) of the ecosystem through the biotic
components ( Plants, Animals, Fungi, Bacteria ).
• More or less circular pathways ,through which the
chemical elements , including all the essential
elements of the protoplasm , circulate in the
biosphere from environment to organisms and
back to the environment , are known as
“BIOGEOCHEMICAL CYCLE” .
• Macronutrients: Required in relatively large amount.
CARBON, OXYGEN, HYDROGEN, NITROGEN,
PHOSPHOROUS

• Micronutrients: Required in very small amount.(But still

necessary)
BORON, COPPER, MOLYBEDANUM
GASEOUS CYCLES SEDIMENTORY CYCLES
1. NITROGEN CYCLE 1. PHOSPHOROUS

2. OXYGEN CYCLE 2. SULFUR

3. CARBON CYCLE 3. CALCIUM

4. WATER CYCLE 4. IRON

• Evaporation -Water changes from liquid to gas

• Transpiration -Water evaporates from the leaves into the atmosphere.

• Condensation - Water vapor (gas) turns into liquid water forming clouds.

• Precipitation -Water droplets become large enough to fall to Earth

• -Rain, snow, sleet, or hail
• Surface Runoff - Rain, snow, that flows into streams, rivers, or canals.
 Condensation
Rain clouds

Transpiration
Evaporation
Precipitation to Transpiration
land from plants Precipitation
Precipitation Evaporation
Surface runoff from land Evaporation
Runoff from ocean Precipitation to
(rapid)
ocean

Infiltration and Surface

Percolation runoff
(rapid)
Groundwater movement (slow)

Ocean storage

Figure 4-28
Page 76

Slide 34
 Effects of Human Activities
on Water Cycle

We alter the water cycle by:

• Withdrawing large amounts of freshwater.
• Clearing vegetation and eroding soils.
• Polluting surface and underground water.
• Contributing to climate change.
NATURAL SOURCES OF CARBON CARBON FROM HUMAN ACTIVITY
Death of plants and animals Burning wood or forests

Animal waste Cars, trucks, planes

Atmospheric CO2 Burning fossil fuels such as coal, oil and

natural gas to produce heat and energy.

Weathering
Methane gas from cows (and other
ruminants)
Aerobic respiration from terrestrial and
aquatic life
 CARBON IN OCEANS
• Additional carbon is stored in the ocean.

• Many animals pull carbon from water to use in shells, etc.

• Animals die and carbon substances are deposited at the bottom of the
ocean.

• Oceans contain earth’s largest store of carbon.

 Diffusion between
atmosphere and ocean

Combustion of fossil fuels

Carbon dioxide
dissolved in
ocean water

photosynthesis aerobic
respiration

Marine food webs

Producers, consumers,
decomposers, detritivores

incorporation death, uplifting over

into sediments sedimentation geologic time

sedimentation
Marine sediments, including
formations with fossil fuels Figure 4-29a
Page 78

Slide 35
 Atmosphere
(most carbon is in carbon dioxide)

Combustion
v olcanic action of fossil
fuels

combustion of wood (for

photosynthesis aerobic clearing land; or for fuel
T
errestrial respiration
rocks

Land food webs sedimentation

weathering producers,
consumers,
decomposers,
detritiv ores
Soil water
(dissolv ed
carbon)
Peat,
death, burial, compaction fossil fuels
leaching ov er geologic time
runoff

Slide 36
 Effects of Human Activities
on Carbon Cycle

We alter the carbon cycle by

adding excess CO2 to the
atmosphere through:
Burning fossil fuels.
Clearing vegetation faster
than it is replaced.
 Sources of Nitrogen

• Inorganic fertilizers
• Nitrogen Fixation
• Animal Residues
• Crop residues
• Organic fertilizers
 Forms of Nitrogen :
• Urea  CO(NH2)2
• Ammonia  NH3 (gaseous)
• Ammonium  NH4
• Nitrate  NO3
• Nitrite  NO2
• Atmospheric Dinitrogen N2
• Organic N
 Roles of Nitrogen :

• Plants and bacteria use nitrogen in the form of

NH4+ or NO3-
• It serves as an electron acceptor in anaerobic
environment
• Nitrogen is often the most limiting nutrient in soil
and water.
 Effects of Human Activities
on the Nitrogen Cycle
• We alter the nitrogen cycle by:
• Adding gases that contribute to acid rain.
• Adding nitrous oxide to the atmosphere through farming
practices which can warm the atmosphere and deplete
ozone.
• Contaminating ground water from nitrate ions in inorganic
fertilizers.
• Releasing nitrogen into the troposphere through
deforestation.
• 1.Phosphorous is an essential nutrient of both plants and animals.
• 2. It is part of DNA molecules which carry genetic information.
• 3. It is part of ATP and ADP) that store chemical energy for use by
organisms in cellular respiration.
• 4. Forms phospholipids in cell membranes of plants and animal cells.
• 5. Forms bones, teeth, and shells of animals as calcium phosphate
compounds.
 mining
mining FERTILIZER
excretion
excretion GUANO
agriculture
weathering
uptake by uptake by
autotrophs autotrophs

MARINE DISSOLVED leaching, runoff DISSOLVED IN LAND

FOOD IN OCEAN SOIL WATER, FOOD
WEBS WATER LAKES, RIVERS WEBS

death, death,
decomposition decomposition

sedimentation settling out weathering

uplifting over
geologic time
MARINE SEDIMENTS ROCKS

Slide 41
HUMAN IMPACTS TO PHOSPHOROUS
CYCLE
1. Humans mine LARGE quantities of phosphate rock to use in commercial fertilizers
and detergents. Phosphorous is NOT found as a gas, only as a solid in the earth’s
crust. It takes millions to hundreds of millions of years to replenish.
2. Phosphorous is held in the tissue of the trees and vegetation, not in the soil and as
we deforest the land, we remove the ability for phosphorous to replenish globally in
ecosystems.
3. Cultural eutrophication – ad excess phosphate to aquatic ecosystems in runoff of
animal wastes from livestock feedlots, runoff of commercial phosphate fertilizers
fro cropland, and discharge of municipal sewage.
1.Sulfur is a component of most proteins and some vitamins.
2.Sulfate ions (SO4 2- ) dissolved in water are common in plant tissue.
They are part of sulfur-containing amino acids that are the building
blocks for proteins.

3.Sulfur bonds give the three dimensional structure of amino acids.

4.Many animals, including humans, depend on plants for sulfur-
containing amino acids.
 Water
Sulfur trioxide Sulfuric acid Acidic fog and
precipitation

Ammonia Ammonium
sulfate
Oxygen
Sulfur dioxide Hydrogen
sulfide

Plants
Volcano
Dimethyl
sulfide Industries Animals

Ocean

Sulfate salts

Decaying
Metallic matter Sulfur
sulfide
deposits
Hydrogen
sulfide

Slide 42
 Effects of Human Activities
on the Sulfur Cycle

• We add sulfur dioxide to the atmosphere by:

• Burning coal and oil
• Refining sulfur containing petroleum.
• Convert sulfur-containing metallic ores into free
metals such as copper, lead, and zinc releasing sulfur
dioxide into the environment.
Sources of Oxygen :
Photosynthesis and respiration
 Photo disassociation of H2O vapor
 CO2 and circulates freely throughout the biosphere.
 Some combines with Ca to form carbonates.
 combines with nitrogen compounds to form nitrates.
 combines with iron compounds to form ferric oxides.
 in the troposphere is reduced to O3 (ozone).
 Ground level is a pollutant which damages lungs.
 The building blocks of life :Water ,Nitrogen, Carbon Dioxide, Phosphorus,
Sulfur
 Continually cycle through Earth's systems, the atmosphere, hydrosphere,
biosphere, and lithosphere, on time scales that range from a few days to
millions of years.
 These cycles are called biogeochemical cycles, because they include a variety
of biological, geological, and chemical processes.