BIOGEOCHEMICAL CYCLE

DAINA MOSQUERA
▪ is the pathway by which a chemical substance cycles the biotic and the abiotic compartments
of Earth. The biotic compartment is the biosphere and the abiotic compartments are the
atmosphere, hydrosphere and lithosphere.
▪ Elements within biogeochemical cycles flow in various forms from the nonliving (abiotic)
components of the biosphere to the living (biotic) components and back. In order for the
living components of a major ecosystem (e.g., a lake or a forest) to survive, all the chemical
elements that make up living cells must be recycled continuously.
A BIOGEOCHEMICAL CYCLE
▪ Biogeochemical cycles can be classed as gaseous, in which the
reservoir is the air or the oceans (via evaporation), and sedimentary, in
which the reservoir is Earth’s crust.
▪ Gaseous cycles include those of nitrogen, oxygen, carbon, and water;
sedimentary cycles include those of iron, calcium, phosphorus, sulfur,
and other more-earthbound elements.
▪ Gaseous cycles tend to move more rapidly than do sedimentary ones
and to adjust more readily to changes in the biosphere because of the
large atmospheric reservoir.
GASEOUS CYCLE
BIOGEOCHEMICAL CYCLE
▪ Sedimentary cycles vary from one element to another, but each cycle
consists fundamentally of a solution (or water-related) phase and a
rock (or sediment) phase.
▪ In the solution phase, weathering releases minerals from Earth’s crust
in the form of salts, some of which dissolve in water, pass through a
series of organisms, and ultimately reach the deep seas, where they
settle out of circulation indefinitely. In the rock phase, other salts
deposit out as sediment and rock in shallow seas, eventually to be
weathered and recycled.
SEDIMENTARY CYCLE
1.    AVOID USING PHOSPHORUS FERTILIZERS AND NITROGEN
FERTILIZERS.

2.    AVOID DEFORESTATION, AND CLEARING OF VEGETATION TO

INCREASE THE CARBON SINKS AND DECREASE THE ATMOSPHERIC CO2
CONCENTRATION.

3.    PREVENTION OF ACID RAINS, BURNING OF COAL, AND LIVESTOCK

RANCHING.

4.    REDUCE VEHICULAR POLLUTION

5.    OVERALL REDUCTION IN POLLUTION.

THANK YOU!