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Biogeochemical Cycle
Biogeochemical Cycle Terms
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Elemental Cycling | the breakdown of organic matter into its constituent elements for re-use in the ecosystem |
| Chemical Elements | any substance that cannot be decomposed into simpler substances by ordinary chemical processes (H - Hydrogen, N - Nitrogen, O - Oxygen, F - Fluorine, CI - Chlorine, Br - Bromine, I - Iodine) |
| Molecule | the smallest particle of a substance that has all of the physical and chemical properties of that substance |
| Compound | a thing that is composed of two or more separate elements |
| Biomolecules | an organic molecule that includes carbohydrates, proteins, lipids, and nucleic acids |
| Reservoirs | a large natural or artificial lake used as a source of water supply |
| Biosphere | made up of the parts of Earth where life exists - all ecosystems |
| Hydrosphere | all the waters on the Earth's surface and above the surface (lakes, seas, rivers, clouds etc.) |
| Atmosphere | a mixture of gases that surrounds the Earth |
| Law of Conservation of Matter | during any physical or chemical change, the total mass of the products remains equal to the total mass of the reactants |
| Geological Carbon Cycle | nature's way of reusing carbon atoms, which travel from the atmosphere int organisms in the Earth and then back into the atmosphere over and over again |
| Biological Carbon Cycle | nature's way of reusing carbon atoms, which travel from the atmosphere int organisms in the Earth and then back into the atmosphere over and over again |
| Mycorrhizae | a fungus which grows in association with the roots of a plant in a symbiotic or mildly pathogenic relationship |
| Mycelia | a network of fungal threads or hyphae |
| Nitrogen Fixation | any natural or industrial process that causes free nitrogen to combine chemically with other elements o form more-reactive nitrogen compounds |
| Nitrification | a microbial process by which reduced nitrogen compounds are sequentially oxidized to nitrite and nitrate |
| Anaerobic | relating to, involving, or requiring an absence of free oxygen |
| Denitrification | the microbial process of reducing nitrate and nitrite to gaseous forms of nitrogen |
| Water Cycle | the cycle of processes by which water circulates between teh earth's oceans, atmosphere, and land |
| Evaporation | the process of turning from liquid into a vapor |
| Transpiration | the water movement from the soil to the atmosphere via plants |
| Condensation | the process by which water vapor in the air is changed into liquid water |
| Precipitation | water that falls from the atmosphere to the Earth's surface |
| Aquifers | a body of permeable rock which can contain or transmit groundwater |
| Runoff | the precipitation that does not soak into the soil but instead moves on the Earth's surface toward streams |
| Euthrophication | a natural process that results from accumulation of nutrients in lakes or other bodies of water |
| Greenhouse Gases | gases in the Earth's atmosphere that trap heat |
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