The Phosphorus Cycle

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45 Terms

1
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What elements accumulate in rocks and soil and participate in what are called biogeochemical cycles?

elements that cycle in the biosphere that do not have a gaseous form

2
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What are elements that cycle in the biosphere that do not have a gaseous form?

elements that accumulate in rocks and soil and participate in biogeochemical cycles

3
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What are the among the elements that undergo sedimentary cycles?

calcium, sulfur, magnesium, and phosphorus

4
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Calcium, sulfur, magnesium, and phosphorus are among the elements that what?

undergo sedimentary cycles

5
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Where can phosphorus be found?

ATP, NADP, and the sugar phosphate backbone of nucleic acids

6
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ATP, NADP, and the sugar phosphate backbone of nucleic acids is where what can be found?

phosphorus

7
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What is the main reservoir of phosphorus?

rock and soil

8
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What is rock and soil?

the main reservoir of phosphorus

9
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What does the cycle begin with?

erosion from rock

10
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Erosion from rock is what?

the start of the phosphorus cycle

11
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When does erosion occur?

as water rushes over rock, dissolving phosphorus and washing it into rivers and streams

12
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What happens as water rushes over rock, dissolving phosphorus and washing it into rivers and streams?

erosion

13
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What happens after erosion from rock?

phosphorus unites with oxygen to form phosphate and enters a major body of water, lake

14
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When does phosphorus unite with oxygen to form phosphate and enters a major body of water?

after erosion from rock

15
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There are plants growing along the border of the lake, then

water gives ups its phosphates, which are absorbed by the plants and used in the synthesis of organic molecules. Some phosphates also enter the soil

16
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When does water give up its phosphates, which are absorbed by the plants and used in the synthesis of organic molecules. Some phosphates also enter the soil?

There are plants growing along the border of the lake

17
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What is incorporated into organic molecules?

dissolved phosphate readily absorbed by the roots of plants, concentrated by cyanobacteria and protists

18
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What is dissolved phosphate readily absorbed by the roots of plants, concentrated by cyanobacteria and protists incorporate into?

organic molecules

19
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What is the primary producer in the phosphorus cycle?

the plant

20
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The plant is the what?

primary producer in the phosphorus cycle

21
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Describe plant consumption to to grazing:

Phosphate is concentrated in plant tissues, and then the plant is consumed by the animal

22
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Phosphate is concentrated in plant tissues, and then the plant is consumed by the animal is what parts of the phosphous cycle?

plant consumption and grazing

23
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Describe plant waste to animal waste:

Phosphates are returned to the lake when the plants and animals die. Plant waste and animal waste return to the water where it may reabsorbed by plants that line the lake

24
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Phosphates are returned to the lake when the plants and animals die. Plant waste and animal waste return to the water where it may reabsorbed by plants that line the lake describes what steps of the phosphorus cycle?

plant waste to animal waste

25
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Large amounts of phosphate are carried by rivers and streams as what?

runoff to the ocean

26
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What happens during runoff to the ocean?

large amounts of phosphate are carried by rivers and streams

27
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Phosphate then concentrates in marine sediment, and then

some of the phosphate is eventually incorporate into the bodies of marine animals such as fish

28
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When does some of the phosphate eventually incorporate into the bodies of marine animals such as fish?

when phosphate concentrates in marine sediment

29
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Primary producers in the ocean incorporate phosphates into organic compounds, then

primary producers are eaten by fish and other invertebrates

30
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Primary producers are eaten by fish and other invertebrates after what?

primary producers in the ocean incorporate phosphates into organic compounds

31
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What is an example of how primary producers in the ocean incorporate phosphates into organic compounds which are eaten by fish and other invertebrates?

sea birds consume the fish and return phosphorus to the ocean in the form of excrements

32
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What must occur for phosphorus to leave the oceanic environment?

geological upthrust

33
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Why must geological upthrust occur?

for phosphorus to leave the oceanic environment

34
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What is geological upthrust?

the process through once-submerged sedimentary rock rich in phosphorus is exposed because of the movement of the Earth’s plates. This rock then enters the terrestrial ecosystem and begins to weather

35
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What is the process through once-submerged sedimentary rock rich in phosphorus is exposed because of the movement of the Earth’s plates. This rock then enters the terrestrial ecosystem and begins to weather

geologoical upthrust

36
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What is different about the phosphorus cycle as compared to water, carbon, and the nitrogen cycle?

the atmosphere isn’t involved and it requires geological upthrust

37
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When is bacterial action important?

bacterial decomposition and phosphatising bacteria that further break down decompositional products and return phosphates to the soil

38
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Name and describe the origin of three forms of inorganic phosphate making up the geological reservoir?

phosphates in plant and animal tissues, phosphates dissolved by phosphating bacteria, and insoluble phosphate in bone deposits and rock

39
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phosphates in plant and animal tissues, phosphates dissolved by phosphating bacteria, and insoluble phosphate in bone deposits and rock describe what?

three forms of inorganic phosphate making up the geological reservoir

40
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What is guano?

phosphate rich manure, typically of fish eating birds, that return a small amount of phosphorus to the land compared to phosphate transferred to the oceans each year by natural processes and human activity

41
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What is phosphate rich manure, typically of fish eating birds, that return a small amount of phosphorus to the land compared to phosphate transferred to the oceans each year by natural processes and human activity

guano

42
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Excess phosphorus entering water bodies through runoff is a major contributor to what?

eutrophication and excessive algal and weed growth, because phosphorus if limiting in aquatic systems

43
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What is a major contributor to eutrophication and excessive algal and weed growth, because phosphorus if limiting in aquatic systems?

excess phosphorus entering water bodies through runoff

44
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What is eutrophication?

excessive richness of nutrients in a lake or other body of water which causes a dense growth of plant life and death of animal life from lack of oxygen

45
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What refers to the excessive richness of nutrients in a lake or other body of water which causes a dense growth of plant life and death of animal life from lack of oxygen?

eutrophication