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Biogeochemical Cycles definitions

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  • Biogeochemical Cycle
    Process recycling chemical nutrients between living and non-living ecosystem components, ensuring element availability.
  • Reservoir
    Storage location for chemical elements or nutrients, such as atmosphere, oceans, or rocks, within a cycle.
  • Water Cycle
    Movement of water through evaporation, condensation, precipitation, and runoff, connecting oceans, land, and atmosphere.
  • Evapotranspiration
    Combined process of water loss from soil and plants to the atmosphere, including both evaporation and transpiration.
  • Aquifer
    Underground layer of water-bearing rock or sediment storing groundwater, replenished by percolation.
  • Carbon Cycle
    Pathway of carbon movement through atmosphere, organisms, oceans, and rocks, involving photosynthesis and respiration.
  • Fossil Fuel
    Energy-rich substance formed from ancient organic matter, releasing stored carbon as CO2 when burned.
  • Greenhouse Gas
    Atmospheric gas, such as CO2, that traps heat and contributes to planetary warming.
  • Nitrogen Cycle
    Transformation and movement of nitrogen among atmosphere, organisms, and soil, involving fixation and denitrification.
  • Nitrogen Fixation
    Conversion of atmospheric nitrogen gas into biologically usable forms by bacteria or abiotic processes.
  • Nitrification
    Microbial process converting ammonium into nitrate, making nitrogen accessible to plants.
  • Denitrification
    Microbial conversion of nitrate back into atmospheric nitrogen gas, completing the nitrogen cycle.
  • Phosphorus Cycle
    Movement of phosphorus through rocks, soil, water, and organisms, lacking an atmospheric component.
  • Sedimentary Rock
    Major storage site for phosphorus, formed from compacted mineral and organic particles over time.
  • Leaching
    Process where dissolved nutrients, such as phosphates, are washed from soil into aquatic systems.