Trisha Mae L. de Ungria Prof. Elvira V.

Silfavan

BSCE-1D August 15, 2018

The Oxygen and Carbon Cycle

Introduction

Oxygen and carbon dioxide are two gases that are very important to life on Earth. They are both

found in the air. Carbon dioxide is released by living organisms in the Earth and then this gas is

consumed by plants on land through the help of photosynthesis. And then these plants would eventually

release oxygen that would again be consumed by living organisms. And then the process goes on and on

again as a cycle. This process can be called the Oxygen and Carbon cycle.

Oxygen

Oxygen is said to be the third most abundant element in our universe. [ CITATION Car42 \l

13321 ], said that it forms 21% of the atmosphere, 89% of water, and about 50% of the Earth’s crust.

Without this element, all life would cease and all fires would go out. [ CITATION McI10 \l 13321 ], stated

that oxygen is the most reactive of the major atmospheric gases chemically and biologically. “Because

oxygen is so reactive, its cycling in the ecosystem is complex. As a constituent of carbon dioxide, it

circulates throughout the ecosystem.” [ CITATION Smi02 \l 13321 ] . Oxygen is also the most

electronegative element next to fluorine. It wants all the electrons and will take all of it whenever it can.

This is why it reacts with almost everything, it takes electrons from almost every other element. McIlveen

also stated that the O2 element is consumed by the combustion, respiration, and decomposition of all-

sorts which is said to consume oxygen at a rate of 190,000 Mt per annum. This balances the release of

O2 as a by-product of photosynthesis, the reverse process by which green plants on land, and

phytoplankton in water build tissues from CO2 and water using the solar energy.

Carbon
 The Earth’s atmosphere also contains the element carbon. Carbon is most commonly known to

be present in carbon dioxide (CO 2) gas. [ CITATION McI10 \l 13321 ] , stated that CO2 is only a trace

component of the atmosphere, specifically having a mass of 0.0005 from the atmosphere. “Carbon

dioxide enters the atmosphere mainly from the decay of vegetation of animal life, from the burning of

fossil fuels, and from decomposition.” [ CITATION CDo08 \l 13321 ] . These emissions are consumed by

photosynthesis which shows exactly how it complements the production and consumption of the O 2

molecule. [ CITATION Joh08 \l 13321 ] Stated how the carbon atoms returns to the atmosphere’s pool of

CO2 through respiration, combustion, and erosion which will be explained in the cycle.

Carbon Cycle

[ CITATION Joh08 \l 13321 ] Stated how the carbon atoms returns to the atmosphere’s pool of CO 2

through respiration, combustion, and erosion. Through respiration, they mentioned that most of the

organisms in the ecosystem respire, meaning, they extract energy from organic food molecules by

stripping away the carbon atoms and combining them with oxygen to form CO 2. All of the organisms from

the food web uses oxygen to extract energy from food, and CO 2 is what is left when they are done. This

by-product is released into the atmosphere. The next one is through combustion. Woods close up a lot of

carbons inside them. They stay trapped in there for years and only returns to the atmosphere when

burned. Losos and Johnson also mentioned that some plants that becomes buried in sediments may

gradually transform into coal or oil by pressure. The carbons trapped by these plants will only be released

back into the atmosphere when the coal or oil (fossil fuel) is burned. The last process they mentioned is

through erosion. Dissolved CO2 in seawater results to very large amounts of carbon in it. A large amount

of this carbon are extracted from the water by marine organisms, which uses it to build their calcium

carbonate shells. When these organisms die, their shells sink to the ocean floor and is covered with

sediments until it forms limestone. Eventually, the limestone becomes exposed to weather and erodes

and as a result, the carbon washes back and is dissolved in oceans where it is returned to the cycle

through diffusion.
 The figure above shows the global carbon cycle retrieved from Verlinden, Melanie from her thesis

entitled, “Carbon balance and productivity of a bio-energy culture with fast-growing poplars in Flanders” in

2013.

Oxygen Cycle

“The oxygen cycle is the cycle that helps move oxygen through the three main regions of the

Earth, the Atmosphere, the Biosphere, and the Lithosphere. The Atmosphere is of course the region of

gases that lies above the Earth’s surface and it is one of the largest reservoirs of free oxygen on earth.”

[ CITATION Jes16 \l 13321 ] . The Biosphere is the sum of all the Earth’s ecosystems. This also has some

free oxygen produced from photosynthesis and other life processes. The largest reservoir of oxygen is the

lithosphere. Most of this oxygen is not on its own or free moving but part of chemical compounds such as

silicates and oxides. The atmosphere is actually the smallest source of oxygen on Earth comprising only

0.35% of the Earth’s total oxygen. The smallest comes from biospheres. The largest is as mentioned

before in the Earth’s crust. The Oxygen cycle is how oxygen is fixed for freed in each of these major

regions.
In the atmosphere Oxygen is freed by the process called photolysis. This is when high energy sunlight

breaks apart oxygen bearing molecules to produce free oxygen. One of the most well-known photolysis it

the ozone cycle. O2 oxygen molecule is broken down to atomic oxygen by the ultra violet radiation of

sunlight. This free oxygen then recombines with existing O2 molecules to make O3 or ozone. This cycle is

important because it helps to shield the Earth from the majority of harmful ultra violet radiation turning it to

harmless heat before it reaches the Earth’s surface. In the biosphere the main cycles are respiration and

photosynthesis. Respiration is when animals and humans breathe consuming oxygen to be used in

metabolic process and exhaling carbon dioxide. Photosynthesis is the reverse of this process and is

mainly done by plants and plankton. The lithosphere mostly fixes oxygen in minerals such as silicates and

oxides. Most of the time the process is automatic all it takes is a pure form of an element coming in

contact with oxygen such as what happens when iron rusts. A portion of oxygen is freed by chemical

weathering. When an oxygen bearing mineral is exposed to the elements a chemical reaction occurs that

wears it down and in the process produces free oxygen. These are the main oxygen cycles and each play

an important role in helping to protect and maintain life on the Earth.

 The figure above shows the Oxygen cycle, retrieved from an article of Tega Jessa from the web

site Universe Today.

Conclusion

The carbon dioxide and oxygen cycle is critical to life on Earth. Humans, and most other

organisms, need oxygen to survive. When we inhale, oxygen moves from our lungs into our blood.

Oxygen travels through the blood to all the cells in the body. The cells use oxygen to complete important

jobs. For example, you are using oxygen right now as you read this sentence. The muscles that control

your eyes use oxygen. Without oxygen, you could not use any of your muscles. In fact, our cells die

quickly if they do not receive oxygen. That is why it is so important to help someone who cannot breathe

by providing them with oxygen. Plants and other organisms that perform photosynthesis rely on animals

for carbon dioxide. Every time you exhale carbon dioxide, you are providing a plant with a building block it

needs to make its own food.

References

Ahrens, C. D. (2008). Essentials of Meteorology: An Invitation to the Atmosphere. USA: Thomson

Brooks/Cole.

Carter, G., & Reinhard, F. (1942, February 1). ACS Publications. Retrieved from ACS Publications Web

site: https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/ed019p91

Jessa, T. (2016, April 26). Universe Today. Retrieved from Universe Today Web site:

https://www.universetoday.com/61080/oxygen-cycle/

Johnson, G., & Losos, J. (2008). The Living World. New York: McGraw-Hill.

McIlveen, R. (2010). Fundamentals of Weather and Climate. New York: Oxford University Press.

Smith, R., & Smith, T. (2002). Elements of Ecology. Singapore: Addison Wesley Longman, Inc.