Biogeochemical

Cycles
• A biogeochemical cycle is the pathway by which
a chemical substance cycles (is turned over or
moves through) the biotic and the abiotic
compartments of Earth. The biotic compartment
is the biosphere and the abiotic compartments
are the atmosphere, hydrosphere and
lithosphere.
• Biogeochemical cycles important to living
organisms include the water, carbon, nitrogen,
phosphorus, and sulfur cycles.
Energy flows, but matter is recycled.
• Energy flows directionally through Earth’s ecosystems, typically
entering in the form of sunlight and exiting in the form of heat.
However, the chemical components that make up living organisms
are different: they get recycled.
• The six most common elements in organic molecules—carbon,
nitrogen, hydrogen, oxygen, phosphorus, and sulfur—take a variety
of chemical forms. They may be stored for long or short periods in
the atmosphere, on land, in water, or beneath the Earth’s surface,
as well as in the bodies of living organisms. 
Hydrologic Cycle/Water Cycle
Water: Why does it matter?
• Water is pretty darn important for living things. Your body is more than one-half water,
and if we were to take a look at your cells, we’d find they were over 70% water! So, you
—like most land animals—need a reliable supply of fresh water to survive.

Step 1. Evaporation - Evaporation is the process of a liquid's surface changing to a gas. In

the water cycle, liquid water (in the ocean, lakes, or rivers) evaporates and becomes water
vapor. 
Step 2. Condensation - Condensation is the process of a gas changing to a liquid. In the
water cycle, water vapor in the atmosphere condenses and becomes liquid. 
Step 3. Precipitation - As was the case with evaporation and condensation, precipitation is
also a process. Precipitation describes any liquid or solid water that falls to Earth as a result
of condensation in the atmosphere. Precipitation includes rain, snow, and hail.
Carbon – Oxygen
Cycle
• Plants use carbon dioxide in a process known as
photosynthesis. During photosynthesis, plants give off oxygen
as a waste product. Carbon dioxide moves from the air into the
leaves of plants through tiny openings in the plant’s leaves.
Oxygen moves out of the plant leaf through these same
openings.
• Nitrogen Cycle is a biogeochemical process through which nitrogen is
converted into many forms, consecutively passing from the atmosphere
to the soil to organism and back into the atmosphere. It involves several
processes such as nitrogen fixation, nitrification, denitrification,
decay and putrefaction.
Phosphorous Cycle
• Phosphorus moves in a cycle through rocks, water, soil and sediments
and organisms. Over time, rain and weathering cause rocks to release
phosphate ions and other minerals. When the plant or animal dies, it
decays, and the organic phosphate is returned to the soil.
• The sulfur cycle describes the movement of sulfur through the
geosphere and biosphere. Sulfur is released from rocks through
weathering, and then assimilated by microbes and plants. It is then passed
up the food chain and assimilated by plants and animals, and released
when they decompose.