Cycle of Biosphere

• Contains all of the minerals, water, Carbon-Oxygen Cycle

oxygenated, nitrogen, carbon, and other
chemical materials necessary for life.
• Makes it possible for living things to use
materials and then return it to the biosphere
for other living things to use.

The Water Cycle

Key terms:
• Carbon
o Element found in all living things
o Backbone of all carbohydrate
molecules
o Needed to store energy

• Oxygen
o Required for the process of respiration
needed to release energy
Key terms:
o Produced by plants during
• Water Cycle: Continuous movement of photosynthesis
water in the biosphere
• Evaporation: When a liquid turns into a
Nitrogen Cycle
gas
• Transpiration: Plants release the water
inside it in the form of moisture or water
vapor.
• Condensation: Water vapor in the air is
changed into liquid water
• Precipitation: Liquid or frozen water that
forms in the atmosphere and falls back to
the earth
• Percolation: absorption of water by soil

Key terms:
• Nitrogen: 80% in the total volume of air
o Not directly taken in by either plant and
animals
o Essential in the making of proteins
(amino acid). Proteins are indicator of
life.
• Nitrogen fixation – Process by which
nitrogen from the atmosphere is changed
into nitrate (NO4)
• Ammonification: Ammonia is produced
from decay of organic organisms
• Rhizobium sp.: Nitrogen fixing bacteria
 o Symbiosis with legumes and fixed in Sulfur Cycle
the nodules of the plant root.
o Blue green algae: Fixation of aquatic
plants

• Nitrification: Conversion of ammonia to

nitrate *soil bacteria convert ammonia into
nitrate (NO2) and finally to nitrate (NO3)
• Nitrogen assimilation: Process by which
nitrogen is incorporated into protein
molecules by plant.
• Denitrification: Is when some bacteria
cause nitrogen to return to the atmosphere
by breaking down ammonia into the soil. Key terms:
• Atmosphere sulfur is found in the form of
Phosphorus Cycle sulfur dioxide (SO2)
• Sulfuric acid (H2SO4): dissolved sulfur
formed with rain fall-out
• Sulfur: a component of certain amino
acids, such as cysteine, which plays an
important role in the structure of proteins.
o Distributed to terrestrial (i.e., land)
ecosystems by the precipitation of
weak sulfuric acid, direct fallout from
the atmosphere, weathering of sulfur-
containing rocks, and geothermal
vents.
o Into marine ecosystems through runoff
from the atmosphere, and underwater
geothermal vents; Supports marine
ecosystems in the form of sulfates.
Key terms:
• Phosphorus: is a major constituent of cell
membrane, nucleic acid, and energy
transfer systems.
o The weathering of rocks on land makes
phosphate ions available to plants
which take it up from the soil.
o Phosphorus cycle is a sedimentary
cycle because it does not enter the
atmosphere.