Biogeochemical cycle

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A commonly cited example is the water cycle.

In Earth science, a biogeochemical cycle or substance turnover or cycling of substances is a

pathway by which achemical substance moves through both biotic (biosphere) and abiotic
(lithosphere, atmosphere, and hydrosphere) compartments of Earth. A cycle is a series of change
which comes back to the starting point and which can be repeated.[1][2] Water, for example, is always
recycled through the water cycle, as shown in the diagram. The water
undergoes evaporation, condensation, and precipitation, falling back to Earth. Elements, chemical
compounds, and other forms of matter are passed from one organism to another and from one part
of the biosphere to another through biogeochemical cycles.[1][2]'
The term "biogeochemical" tells us that biological, geological and chemical factors are all involved.
The circulation of chemical nutrients like carbon, oxygen, nitrogen, phosphorus, calcium, and water
etc. through the biological and physical world are known as biogeochemical cycles. In effect, the
element is recycled, although in some cycles there may be places (called reservoirs) where the
element is accumulated or held for a long period of time (such as an ocean or lake for water).[1][2]

Important cycles[edit]
The most well-known and important biogeochemical cycles, for example, include

the carbon cycle,

the nitrogen cycle,
the oxygen cycle,
the phosphorus cycle,
the sulfur cycle,
the water cycle,
and the rock cycle.

There are many biogeochemical cycles that are currently being studied for the first time as climate
change and human impacts are drastically changing the speed, intensity, and balance of these
relatively unknown cycles. These newly studied biogeochemical cycles include

the mercury cycle,[3] and

the human-caused cycle of atrazine, which may affect certain species.

Biogeochemical cycles always involve hot equilibrium states: a balance in the cycling of the element
between compartments. However, overall balance may involve compartments distributed on a global
scale.
As biogeochemical cycles describe the movements of substances on the entire globe, the study of
these is inherently multidiciplinary. The carbon cycle may be related to research
in ecology and atmospheric sciences.[4] Biochemical dynamics would also be related to the fields
of geology and pedology (soil study).[5]