Vocabulary
Anything that has mass and takes up space
Matter
Water enters the atmosphere in the form of ____________________
Water vapor
How does carbon get into the soil?
Decaying organisms
Most of Earth's nitrogen is found in the __________
Atmosphere
3 sources of phosphate in our soil
Sewage treatment plants, fertilizer use, phosphate mines
A chemical substance that an organism must obtain from its environment to sustain life
Nutrient
When water vapor rises and condenses around particles in the air to form clouds
Condensation
Name 3 ways CO2 gets put into the air
Decaying organisms, burning fossil fuels, respiration
Process where nitrogen gas (N2) is converted to ammonium (NH4+)
Nitrogen fixation
In the short term phosphorus cycle, what uses phosphates available in the soil?
Plants
Exchange of matter through the biosphere involving living organisms, chemical processes, and geological processes
Biogeochemical Cycle
Chemical processes occur in plants and cause the plants to release water vapor to cool themselves. This is known as ___________
Transpiration
When carbon has been underground for so long and under so much pressure, these are created
Fossil fuels (coal, natural gas, oil)
Process that turns ammonium (NH4+) into a form plants can use
Nitrification
Role of decomposers in the short term phosphorus cycle?
Return phosphorus back to the soil
Process in which nitrogen gas is captured and converted into a form plants can use
Nitrogen fixation
How water reaches the Earth...rain, snow, sleet, hail
How do plants help combat the abundance of CO2 in our air?
Photosynthesis! Take in CO2 to produce O2
Too much nitrogen can result in ________, which kills aquatic wildlife
Algae blooms
How does phosphate become readily available to land organisms again?
Weathering or erosion
Process in which nitrogen compounds are converted back into nitrogen gas and returned to the atmosphere
Denitrification
Process of water absorbing into the Earth into the groundwater supply
Percolation
Carbon and oxygen can mix with calcium ions present in rock to form _________
CaCO3 (lime or calcium carbonate)
Microorganisms convert nitrates back into nitrogen gas
Denitrification
Too much phosphate (or nitrogen) can result in this issue in our aquatic ecosystems
Algae bloom