Cycles

Evaporation

When liquid water turns into gas (water vapor), usually when heated

Transpiration

When plants release water vapor into the atmosphere

Condensation

When water vapor (gas) turns into liquid water, usually when cooled

Transportation

When water moves from one place to another, often when clouds are moved by wind

Precipitation

When water falls from clouds (rain, snow, hail, or sleet)

Surface Runoff

When water travels from a higher elevation to a lower elevation (ie. down a mountain)

Percolation

When water seeps through the soil deeper underground

Aquifer

An underground reservoir of water

CO2 (carbon dioxide) in the atmosphere

CO2 (carbon dioxide) in the atmosphere

Photosynthesis

CO2 is taken in by plants and stored in glucose molecules

CO2 dissolves in seawater

CO2 dissolves in seawater

Decomposition

Organisms break down dead organisms and recycle their carbon into the soil

Fossilization

Dead organisms that get buried can eventually form fossils and fossil fuels underground (both are reservoirs of carbon)

Combustion of fossil fuels

burning fossil fuels releases CO2 back into the atmosphere

Feeding

Glucose made in plants during photosynthesis can be consumed by animals to use for cellular respiration

Cellular respiration

Organisms convert the carbon stored in glucose into CO2, which gets released into the atmosphere

Nitrogen in the atmosphere

the most abundant element in the atmosphere (in N2 form)

Nitrogen fixation

the process of converting nitrogen gas (N2) into ammonia (NH3), often by bacteria

Nitrification

the process of converting ammonia into nitrites and nitrates that can then be used by plants as fertilizer, often by bacteria

Denitrification

the process by which bacteria convert nitrate into nitrogen gas

Lightning fixes nitrogen

nitrogen gas can also be fixed into ammonia by lightning

Assimilation

when plants absorb nitrates from the soil by their roots to use to build amino acids

Ammonification

when decomposers break down organic nitrogen in dead organisms into ammonia and ammonium

Feeding

nitrogen can be transferred from plants to animals when the plants are consumed