environmental chapter 2. biogeochemical cycles most things in nature get recycled and are used over...
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The Water Cycle Water moves through the biotic and abiotic factors in the environment Ways water can move: – Precipitation water moves from the atmosphere to the land in the form of snow, rain, sleet and hail. During condensation water cools and condenses, precipitation forms About 91% falls into oceans. The rest falls on land to replenish the fresh water supplyTRANSCRIPT
Environmental Chapter 2
Biogeochemical Cycles
Most things in nature get recycled and are used over again
Three common cycles– Water cycle– Carbon cycle– Nitrogen cycle
The Water Cycle
Water moves through the biotic and abiotic factors in the environment
Ways water can move:– Precipitation
water moves from the atmosphere to the land in the form of snow, rain, sleet and hail.
During condensation water cools and condenses, precipitation forms
About 91% falls into oceans. The rest falls on land to replenish the fresh water supply
– Evaporation Water moves from the land to the atmosphere Transpiration is when water moves from living things to
the atmosphere. It is a form of evaporation
– Ground Water – when precipitation seeps into the ground and becomes part of the water table
– Runoff Water that flows on top of the ground
The Carbon Cycle
All living things have carbon in them All carbon that is on earth has been here
since the earth was formed
Ways that carbon moves through the environment
Photosynthesis – carbon gets taken out of the air and used by producers to make food
Respiration- carbon gets put back into the air by animals when they exhale
Decomposition – breakdown of dead materials by bacteria and fungi
Combustion – carbon in fossil fuels is released while burning
The Nitrogen Cycle
78% of the earth’s atmosphere is nitrogen Organisms cannot use nitrogen directly from
atmosphere Nitrogen fixation- when bacteria in the soil change
atmospheric nitrogen gas into usable nitrogen Lightening can also fix nitrogen Denitrification-different bacteria change usable
nitrogen into atmospheric nitrogen gas