BIOGEOCHEMICAL CYCLES

‘Fundamentals’ of biogeochemical cycles

• All matter cycles...it is neither created nor

destroyed...

• As the Earth is essentially a closed system with

respect to matter, we can say that all matter on Earth
cycles .

• Biogeochemical cycles: the movement (or cycling) of

matter through a system
by matter we mean: elements (carbon, nitrogen, oxygen) or
molecules (water)

so the movement of matter (for example carbon) between

these parts of the system is, practically speaking, a
biogeochemical cycle

The Cycling Elements:

macronutrients : required in relatively large amounts

"big six":
carbon , hydrogen , oxygen , nitrogen , phosphorous
sulfur
other macronutrients:

potassium , calcium , iron , magnesium

micronutrients : required in very small amounts, (but still

necessary)
boron (green plants)
copper (some enzymes)
molybdenum (nitrogen-fixing bacteria)
ATMOSPHERE
LITHOSPHERE
HYDROSPHERE
ECOSPHERE
 6 of the most important cycles
are the water, carbon, nitrogen,
sulfur, phosphorus and oxygen.
1. Which part of the atmosphere has the highest altitude?
A. Troposphere B. Stratosphere C. Thermosphere D. Mesosphere

2. Which part includes all three of the other parts?

A. Lithosphere B. Ecosphere C. Hydrosphere D. Atmosphere

3. Which one is not a major cycle?

A. Hydrogen B. Nitrogen C. Oxygen D. Sulfur E. Water
 HYDROLOGIC CYCLE
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
 HYDROLOGIC CYCLE

CONNECTS
ALL OF THE
CYCLES
AND
SPHERES
TOGETHER
 HUMAN IMPACTS TO
WATER CYCLE
1. Water withdrawal from streams, lakes and
groundwater. (salt water intrusion and groundwater
depletion)
2. Clear vegetation from land for agriculture, mining,
road and building construction. (nonpoint source
runoff carrying pollutants and reduced recharge of
groundwater)
3. Degrade water quality by adding nutrients(NO2, NO3,
PO4) and destroying wetlands (natural filters).
4. Degrade water clarity by clearing vegetation and
increasing soil erosion.
Water Quality Degradation
 MARINE CARBON CYCLE
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
TERRESTRIAL CARBON
CYCLE
Atmosphere
(most carbon is in carbon dioxide)

Combustion
volcanic action of fossil
fuels

combustion of wood (for

photosynthesis aerobic clearing land; or for fuel
Terrestrial respiration
rocks

Land food webs sedimentation

weathering producers,
consumers,
decomposers,
detritivores
Soil water
(dissolved
carbon)
Peat,
death, burial, compaction fossil fuels
leaching over geologic time
runoff
 Explain
Natural Sources
Sources of Carbon from
of
Human Activity
Carbon

•Death of plants and animals •Burning wood or forests

•Animal waste •Cars, trucks, planes
•Atmospheric CO2
•Burning fossil fuels
•Weathering
such as coal, oil and
•Methane gas from cows
natural gas to produce
(and other ruminants)
heat and energy.
•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.

 14

13
High

(billion metric tons of carbon equivalent)

12 projection
11
CO2 emissions from fossil fuel

10
Low
9 projection
8

6
5

2
1
0
1850 1900 1950 2000 2030 Figure 4-30
Page 79
Year
Slide 38
IMPORTANCE OF CARBON
CYCLE

CARBON IS THE BACKBONE

OF LIFE!
1. What is no part of the water cycle?
A. Precipitation B. Percolation C. Transpiration D. Surface Runoff
E. Boiling

2. Which is not a man made way of adding carbon to the carbon cycle?
A. Airplanes B. Natural Fires C. Cars D. Burning fossil fuels

3. What are the predictions for how much carbon will be added from
fossil fuels?
A. Low B. Medium-Low C. Medium D. High
The Nitrogen Cycle
 Sources
• Lightning
• 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
 Global Nitrogen Reservoirs
Nitrogen Metric tons Actively cycled
Reservoir nitrogen
Atmosphere 3.9*1015 No
Ocean  soluble
salts 6.9*1011 Yes
Biomass 5.2*108 Yes

Land  organic
matter 1.1*1011 Slow
 Biota 2.5*1010 Yes
 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.
 Nitrogen is a key element for

• amino acids
• nucleic acids (purine, pyrimidine)
• cell wall components of bacteria.
 Nitrogen Cycles
• Ammonification/mineralization
• Immobilization
• Nitrogen Fixation
• Nitrification
• Denitrification
 N2

N2O NH4 NO2

R-NH2

NO
NO2
NO3
Which of the following is not part of the Nitrogen Cycle?
A) Ammonification
B) Nitrification
C) Denitrosation
D) Nitrogen Fixation
E) Denitrification
In what form(s) do plants and bacteria use nitrogen?
A) NH4+
B) NH3
C) NO3-
D) A and C
E) All of the above
What is the molecular formula for ammonium?
A) NH4+
B) NH3
C) NO3
D) NO2
E) none of the above
 Ammonification or Mineralization
N2

N2O NH4 NO2

R-NH2

NO
NO2
NO3
 Mineralization or Ammonification
• Decomposers: earthworms, termites, slugs, snails,
bacteria, and fungi
• Uses extracellular enzymes  initiate degradation
of plant polymers
• Microorganisms uses:
• Proteases, lysozymes, nucleases to degrade
nitrogen containing molecules
• Plants die or bacterial cells lyse  release of organic
nitrogen
• Organic nitrogen is converted to inorganic nitrogen (NH3)

• When pH<7.5, converted rapidly to NH4

• Example:

Urea NH3 + 2 CO2

 Immobilization
• The opposite of mineralization
• Happens when nitrogen is limiting in the
environment
• Nitrogen limitation is governed by C/N ratio
• C/N typical for soil microbial biomass is 20
• C/N < 20 Mineralization
• C/N > 20 Immobilization
 Nitrogen Fixation
N2

N2O NH4 NO2

R-NH2

NO
NO2 NO3
 Nitrogen Fixation

• Energy intensive process :

• N2 + 8H+ + 8e- + 16 ATP = 2NH3 + H2 + 16ADP

+ 16 Pi

• Performed only by selected bacteria and

actinomycetes
• Performed in nitrogen fixing crops
(ex: soybeans)
 Microorganisms fixing
• Azobacter • Require the enzyme
• Beijerinckia nitrogenase
• Azospirillum • Inhibited by oxygen
• Clostridium • Inhibited by ammonia
• (end product)
Cyanobacteria
 Rates of Nitrogen Fixation

N2 fixing system Nitrogen Fixation (kg

N/hect/year)
Rhizobium-legume 200-300

Cyanobacteria- moss 30-40

Rhizosphere associations 2-25

Free- living 1-2

Immobilization is the opposite of which process in the cycle?
A) Mineralization
B) Nitrification
C) Immobilization
D) Nitrogen Fixation
E) Denitrification
What process takes place when nitrogen is limiting in the
environment?
A) Mineralization
B) Nitrification
C) Immobilization
D) Nitrogen Fixation
E) Denitrification
Which has the highest rate of nitrogen fixation?
A) Rhizobium-legume
B) Cynaobacteria-moss
C) Rhizosphere associations
D) Free-living
E) Azobacter
 Applications to wetlands
• Occur in overlying waters
• Aerobic soil
• Anaerobic soil
• Oxidized rhizosphere
• Leaf or stem surfaces of plants
 Bacterial Fixation
• Occurs mostly in salt marshes
• Is absent from low pH peat of northern bogs
• Cyanobacteria found in waterlogged soils
 Nitrification
N2

N2O NH4 NO2

R-NH2

NO
NO2 NO3
 Nitrification
Two step reactions that occur together :

• 1rst step catalyzed by Nitrosomonas

2 NH4+ + 3 O2  2 NO2- +2 H2O+ 4 H+

• 2nd step catalyzed by Nitrobacter

• 2 NO2- + O2  2 NO3-
• Optimal pH is between 6.6-8.0

• If pH < 6.0  rate is slowed

• If pH < 4.5  reaction is inhibited

In which type of wetlands do you

thing Nitrification occurs?
 Denitrification
N2

N2O NH4 NO2

R-NH2

NO
NO2 NO3
 Denitrification
• Removes a limiting nutrient from the
environment
• 4NO3- + C6H12O6 2N2 + 6 H20
• Inhibited by O2
• Not inhibited by ammonia
• Microbial reaction
• Nitrate is the terminal electron acceptor
Looking at the Nitrogen cycle
through the eye of NH4
Denitrication is inhibited by
A) NH3
B) NH4+
C) NO2-
D) O2
The second step of Nitrification is catalyzed by
A) Nitrosomonas
B) Clostridium
C) Azobacter
D) Nitrobacter
E) Beijerinckia
Which pH is within the optimal range for nitrication?
A) 1.5
B) 4.6
C) 7.1
D) 8.7
E) 10.9
Surface
water

Oxidized Low
layer [NH4]

Reduced Biodegradation
soil layer Slow Diffusion
C/N <20
C/N >20
[NH4]
HIGH
Surface
nitrification
water

Oxidized Low
[NO3] high
layer [NH4]

Reduced
soil layer Slow Diffusion

[NH4]
HIGH
Surface N2
water

Oxidized [NO3] high

layer

Reduced Leaching
soil layer

[NO3] Low
Denitrification
 PHOSPHOROUS CYCLE

mining FERTILIZER
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
 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.
 IMPORTANCE OF
PHOSPHOROUS CYCLE
• 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.
 SULFUR CYCLE
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
sulfide Sulfur
deposits
Hydrogen
sulfide
 HUMAN IMPACTS TO
SULFUR CYCLE
Approximately 1/3 of all sulfur emitted into
atmosphere comes from human activities.
• 1. Burning sulfur containing coal and oil to
produce electric power (SOx = acid deposition).
• 2. Refining petroleum – (SOx emissions)
• 3. Smelting to convert sulfur compounds of
metallic minerals into free metals (Cu, Pb, Zn)
• 4. Industrial processing.
 IMPORTANCE OF SULFUR
CYCLE
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.
The Oxygen cycle
1. The Phosphorus Cycle takes
A. Short time B. 20 years to fully cycle through C. 100 years to cycle
through D. Geological Timescal

2. What percentage of sulfur is emmited buy human activity?

A. .01% B. 20% C. 33.3% D. 66.7% E. Over 90%

3. The vast majority of oxygen in the ecosphere is in

A. Outer space B. Lithosphere C. Atmosphere D. Hydrosphere
 PHOTOSYNTHESIS
Photosynthesis: occurs within the chloroplasts of green plants.
The photosynthetic membranes are arranged in flattened sacs
called the thylakoids.
6CO2 + 12H2O C6H12O6 + 6O2 + 6H2O
light

(reactants) (products)
Function: Chemical energy
Storage for cell use
 CELLULAR RESPIRATION
Cellular Respiration occurs
in light simultaneously with
photosynthesis. It occurs in
the cytoplasm and
mitochondria.
It is the reverse reaction of
photosynthesis.
Function = chemical energy
release

C6H12O6 + 6O2 + 6H2O 6CO2 + 12H2O+

chemical energy
Primary Productivity Connection
• Gross Primary Productivity (GPP) – the rate at
which an ecosystem’s producers capture and store
a given amount of chemical energy as biomass in
a given period of time.
• Net Primary Productivity (NPP) – the rate at
which all the plants in an ecosystem produce net
useful energy; equal to the difference between
energy produced through photosynthesis and
energy used for cellular respiration.
“GOOD OZONE UP HIGH”
 PHOTOCHEMICAL SMOG
“BAD OZONE DOWN LOW”
OZONE DEPLETION
ACID DEPOSITION
 CULTURAL
EUTROPHICATION
 Cultural Eutrophication &
Anoxia
• Eutrophication: natural process; over 1000’s of years,
lakes fill in with sediment, become marshes then dry land

• Cultural Eutrophication: same process, but speeded

enormously by loading with “limiting nutrients” (typically
P, sometimes N)

• Problems associated with cultural eutrophication

– Algal blooms
– Water anoxia
ROCK CYCLE
 HUMAN IMPACTS ON THE
ROCK CYCLE
• 1. Humans are excavating minerals and removing
rock material. It takes millions of years for rock
to form.
• 2. Humans remove sediments for building
materials. This removes sediments that may form
sedimentary rocks in the future.
• 3. Humans are filling in wetlands (peatlands),
area that will form future coal beds.
1. Which part of the atmosphere is the ozone layer right above?
A. Stratosphere B. Troposphere C. Mesosphere D. Thermosphere

2. How long does it take rock formations to form?

A. 1,000 years B. 10,000 years C. 100,000 years D. 1,000,000 years E.
10,000,000 years

3. What is cultural eutrophication good for?

A. Fish B. Dissolved Oxygen in the lake C. algae D. clear lake
 Works Cited
1. http://science.pppst.com/carboncycle.html
2. westernreservepublicmedia.org/earthmotion3/
images/Carbon_Cycle.ppt
3. clima-dods.ictp.it/d3/annalisa/ocean_sv/lecture1.ppt
4. www.geology.wmich.edu/Koretsky/envs2150/
Pcycle_1.ppt