Biogeochemical Cycles

1
Biogeochemical Cycles

• Fall 2009

2
Biogeochemical Cycles

• Describe the way in which elements move through
  our environment.
• Involves geology rocks, water soil
• Involves biology people animals
• Can be created for any element but there are 3
  big ones we will cover
• Water, Carbon Nitrogen

3
Biogeochemical CyclesTwo Basic Parts

• Reservoirs
• Sometimes called sinks
• Places where the element is stored in the cycle
• Example oceans and lakes in water cycle
• Fluxes
• Actions the element can take moving from one
  reservoir to another
• Example precipitation in the water cycle

4
Biogeochemical CyclesWater Cycle

• Reservoirs
• ( total water)
• Oceans (97.2)
• Ice Caps (2.2)
• Groundwater (0.3)
• Surface Water (0.01)
• Atmosphere (0.001)

• Fluxes
• Precipitation
• Condensation
• Sublimation
• Deposition
• Infiltration
• Percolation
• Runoff
• Evaporation
• Transpiration
• Evapotranspiration (ET)

5
Biogeochemical CyclesNitrogen Cycle

• Reservoirs
• (Billions of metric tons)
• Sediments Rocks (200,000,000)
• Atmosphere (4,000,000)
• Oceans (23,000)
• Soils (9.5)
• Land Plants (3.5)
• Note that sediments rocks have lots of
  nitrogen, but are not real active

• Fluxes
• Fixation (land ocean)
• Denitrification (land ocean)
• Plant/organic decay
• Plant growth
• Fossil Fuel Burning
• Biomass Burning
• Land to Ocean Transfer
• Rivers, dust, NOx
• Ocean to Land Transfer
• Sea spray
• Lightning
• Industrial Fixation

6
Biogeochemical CyclesCarbon Cycle

• Reservoirs
• (Trillions of metric tons)
• Carbonate Rocks (100,000)
• Ocean (39)
• Fossil Fuels (4)
• Soil (1.5)
• Atmosphere (0.72)
• Land Plants (0.56)

• Fluxes
• Photosynthesis
• Respiration
• Dissolving
• Exsolving (reverse of dissolve)
• Making Carbonate Rocks
• Weathering
• Fossil Fuel Formation
• Fossil Fuel Burning
• Plants to Soil
• Volcanoes

7
Carbon and Nitrogen Cycles

• Research and construct a diagram for the Carbon
  and Nitrogen Cycles.
• You need a text description for what each
  reservoir and flux is in your diagram.
• You need to cite all your sources.
• 40 Points Total