Chapter 6: Natural Cycles

Nitrogen:
Abundance and Properties
Cycling of Nitrogen
Nitrogen and Environment
Uses of Nitrogen

Oxygen:
Abundance and Properties
Cycling of Oxygen
Uses of Oxygen

A report by:
CARLOS JOSEPH V. MANLAPAZ

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Objectives:
1. To describe elements as they are; properties and behaviors; and
2. To explain the relationship of elements with other components in the
environment.

Introduction:
Materials in the environment are undergoing cycles, as the rate of entropy fuels
the amount of disorder caused by greater kinetic energy. Among the elements
that affects the environment so much are nitrogen and oxygen.

Nitrogen
Abundance
 It is the fifth most abundant element in the universe. It makes up 78% of
the Earth’s atmosphere. It’s relative abundance in the universe is 0.1 %. It’s
relative abundance in the solar system is 0.11 %, while it only has traces on
Earth, but is abundant in the human body with 3.3%.
Properties
It was discovered in 1772 by Daniel Rutherford. It is after a Greek word
“nitron” and “genes” meaning nitre forming.
It is a colorless and odorless gas. Its other properties are shown in the
table:

PARAMETER
Group 15
Period 2
Atomic Number 7
State at 20 degree Celsius Gas
Melting Point −210.0°C, −346.0°F, 63.2 K
Boiling Point −195.795°C, −320.431°F, 77.355 K
Density (g cm−3) 0.001145
Relative Atomic Mass 14.007

Cycling of Nitrogen
Nitrogen Fixation
Nitrogen gas (N2) makes up most of the gases of the atmosphere, but
limits the productivity of most biological processes because it cannot be
processed in that form; it has to be converted to ammonia (NH3) first, a process
called nitrogen fixation.
The triple bonds that binds nitrogen gas together requires 16 ATPs and 8
electrons.

Because of the huge amount of energy required, only prokaryotes,

lightning, and activities like the combustion of fossil fuels can facilitate nitrogen
fixation.
 Some nitrogen fixers are free-living, while others have close symbiosis
with a host, such as Rhizobium which are attracted to root exudates from
leguminous plants like pea, clover, and soybeans.
Also, nitrogen fixers can either be aerobic, anaerobic, phototrophic, or
chemotrophic, but despite their diversity, they commonly have an enzyme called
nitrogenase for the reduction of N2 to NH3. This enzyme is sensitive to oxygen as
it gets deactivated in its presence; a dilemma for photosynthetic plants since they
produce oxygen. Thus, some nitrogen fixers evolved to protect their nitrogenase
from oxygen, such as some cyanobacteria forming heterocysts, while some
operate at night while photosystems are dormant.
The gene for this trait is available in most aerobic, anaerobic, and
microaerophilic (such as termite guts and hypersaline lakes). The diversity of
ecosystems suggests a broad range of environmental conditions for a very
important ecological process.

Nitrification
It is a process that involves the conversion of ammonia (NH3) to nitrite
(NO2), then to nitrate (NO3), exclusively done with oxygen and prokaryotes.
There are two steps with which this happens:
a. Ammonia to Nitrite; then
b. Nitrite to Nitrate.
For the first step, ammonia to nitrite, ammonia oxidizers carry out the
process by using ammonia monooxygenase to turn it into hydroxylamine.
Hydroxylamine is then converted to nitrite with the use of hydroxylamine
oxydoreductase.
 Unlike nitrogen fixation, nitrification is only carried out by a few number of
prokaryotes such as Nitrosomonas, Nitrosospira, and Nitrosococcus, until an
archaea Nitrosopumilus maritimus is found to carry out nitrification, and is still
under thorough research.
For the second step, nitrite to nitrate, it is carried out by a completely
separate group of prokaryotes known as nitrite-oxidizing Bacteria including
Nitrospira, Nitrobacter, Nitrococcus, and Nitrospina.

Anammox
This is a recent reaction involving Nitrogen discovered in low-oxygen
zones in oceans, coastal, and estuarine environments. This process is contrary
to the concept of ammonia oxidizers to be exclusive in aerobic environments
only.
The process involves oxidizing ammonia by using nitrite as electron
acceptors, turning it to gaseous oxygen.

The first bacteria to have been discovered to do this is Brocadia

anammoxidans, which belongs to the Planctomycetes phylum of Bacteria. This
process contributes to a huge loss of nitrogen, apart from denitrification.

Denitrification
It is a process that converts nitrate (NO3) back to nitrogen gas (N2).
However, in this process, some intermediate nitrogen gases form, such as
Nitrous oxide (N2O), a known greenhouse gas.
Just like nitrogen fixation, this process happens in a wide variety of
prokaryotes such as Bacillus, Paracoccus, and Pseudomonas, as well as some
eukaryotes. Unlike nitrification, it happens anaerobically.
Nitrogen and the Environment
 Nitrogen is a necessary component of most biomolecules, including
proteins, nucleic acids (such as DNA), and chlorophyll. It is available in the form
of organic (such as amino and nucleic acids) and inorganic forms (such as
nitrates and nitrites). For this reason, it is used by organisms for various
applications such as growth and for the production of energy.
Since the mid-1900s, human activities such as the burning of fossil fuels
and making fertilizers affect the cycle of nitrogen, fixing nitrogen, and contributing
to the activities of microorganisms, altering the available nitrogen in ecosystems,
and affecting productivity.
In the case of denitrification, nitrogen that is stuck in land (in the form of
nitrate) is cycled back to available nitrogen in the atmosphere (N2).
The addition of nitrogen to lands through fertilizers has significantly
caused a shift in the balance of ecosystems, as nitrogen may leach out and
make it to streams, and then to our drinking water (also known as Haber-Bosch
process). It is found that most of the nitrogen found in human tissues come from
the Haber-Bosch process.
Likewise, anoxia (no oxygen) and hypoxia (low oxygen) may happen to
bodies of water, causing fish and shellfish mortality, led by algal bloom.

Uses of Nitrogen
With the role nitrogen plays in the ecosystem, studies are being conducted
to facilitate processes like nitrification (a process that happens in selected
prokaryotes) using archaea.
In terms of wastewater management, ammonia- and nitrite-oxidizers are
being studied and improved. These oxidizers have the ability to remove certain
levels of ammonium from wastewater to prevent the pollution of receiving waters.
This concept is also applied in preserving aquaria by processing toxic ammonium
from fish urine.
Furthermore, through denitrification, unwanted nitrates are removed from
wastewater, therefore preventing the occurrence of algal bloom.

Oxygen
Abundance
Oxygen is found to be 1% in the entire universe, 0.59% in the solar
system, 65% in the human body, and it makes 21% of the Earth’s atmosphere.
Properties
 PARAMETER
Group 15
Period 2
Atomic Number 7
State at 20 degree Celsius Gas
Melting Point −210.0°C, −346.0°F, 63.2 K
Boiling Point −195.795°C, −320.431°F, 77.355 K
Density (g cm−3) 0.001145
Relative Atomic Mass 14.007

Cycling of Oxygen
Oxygen is produced as a by-product of photosynthesis and is released
into the air. All aerobic organism then picks up free-flying oxygen and use it for
respiration. In exchange for oxygen gas, aerobic organisms then release carbon
dioxide, which can be used by plants in the process of photosynthesis.

Uses of Oxygen
Respiration is the first use of oxygen. It is a process done by aerobic
organisms, that include the use of oxygen for bodily processes, and the giving off
of carbon dioxide.
In the decomposition of organisms, the process also requires oxygen and
releases carbon dioxide. This process is common on Earth, as all forms of
organism decay to return nutrients back to the ground.
In addition, combustion is also made possible because of the presence of
oxygen. This chemical process, along with rusting, requires exposure to oxygen.
Rusting, on the other hand, requires the presence of iron to take place.

References:
Royal Society of Chemistry, http://www.rsc.org/periodic-table/element/7/nitrogen
Jefferson Laboratory, https://education.jlab.org/itselemental/ele007.html
Nature Education, https://www.nature.com/scitable/knowledge/library/the-
nitrogen-cycle-processes-players-and-human-15644632/
Periodic Table,
https://periodictable.com/Properties/A/UniverseAbundance.v.log.html
Hyper Physics,
http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/Tables/elabund.html
The Learning App, https://byjus.com/biology/oxygen-cycle-environment/#what-is-
oxygen-cycle?