APES - Modules 4 + 5

carbon cycle processes

1. photosynthesis

2. respiration

3. exchange

4. sedimentation

5. burial

6. extraction

7. combustion

exchange

carbon transfers between ocean and atmosphere

sedimentation

calcium ions form calcium carbonate rock

burial

process of fossil fuels being created

extraction

removing of fossil fuels

combustion

burning of fossil fuels of natural (fires or volcanoes)

carbon cycle: human impacts

• combustion leads to climate change

• deforestation

nitrogen cycle processes

1. fixation

2. nitrification

3. assimilation

4. mineralization

5. denitrification

fixation

nitrogen gas converting to usable nitrogen

nitrification

ammonia turns to nitrite, nitrite turns to nitrate

assimilation

plants incorporating nitrogen into their tissue

mineralization

converting organic waste back into inorganic compounds

denitrification

conversion of nitrate into nitrogen gas to be taken by atmosphere

leaching

dissolved molecules are transported through soil via groundwater

other human impacts on the nitrogen cycle

• fertilizer

• burning fossil fuels

• animal waste

phosphorus cycle processes

1. assimilation

2. mineralization

3. sedimentation

4. geological uplift

5. weathering

assimilation

inorganic to organic

mineralization

organic to inorganic

sedimentation

precipitates out of solution into sediments, phosphorus is insoluble in water

geological uplift

the sediments are uplifted

weathering

by natural forces, brings phosphorus back

phosphorus cycle: human impacts

• mining phosphate sediment

• algal bloom leads to toxins and dead zones

water cycle processes

1. solar warming

2. evaporation

3. transpiration

4. precipitation

5. runoff

water cycle: human impacts

1. harvesting trees

2. paving landscape

carbon cycle major sinks

oceans, forests, soil, geological formations

N₂

nitrogen gas

NO₃

ammonia

NO₂-

nitrite

NO₃-

nitrate

NH₄+

ammonium

nitrogen cycle major sinks

• atmosphere

• soil organic matter

• living biomass

• wetlands

• aquatic ecosystems

phosphorus cycle major sinks

• oceans

• glaciers

• groundwater

• atmosphere

• lakes, rivers, wetlands

• living organisms

algal bloom process

the phosphorus causes algal bloom, the algae dies, bacteria feed on it and respire, making the water hypoxic

the phosphorus cycle does NOT have . . .

an atmospheric component

terminal lake

a lake in which water flows in but cannot flow out

mono lake

often the result of a terminal lake, the water in it eventually evaporates and all of the salt and excess minerals that flowed in build up