Summary
Mineral nutrients are cycled through ecosystems and their environment. Of particular importance are water, carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, and sulfur. All of these cycles have major impacts on ecosystem structure and function. As human activities have caused major disturbances to these cycles, their study and modeling is especially important. A variety of human activities, such as pollution, oil spills, and events) have damaged ecosystems, potentially causing global climate change. The health of Earth depends on understanding these cycles and how to protect the environment from irreversible damage.
Glossary
acid rain
corrosive rain caused by rainwater falling to the ground through sulfur dioxide gas, turning it into weak sulfuric acid; can damage structures and ecosystems
biogeochemical cycle
cycling of mineral nutrients through ecosystems and through the non-living world
dead zone
area within an ecosystem in lakes and near the mouths of rivers where large areas of ecosystems are depleted of their normal flora and fauna; these zones can be caused by eutrophication, oil spills, dumping of toxic chemicals, and other human activities
eutrophication
process whereby nutrient runoff causes the excess growth of microorganisms, depleting dissolved oxygen levels and killing ecosystem fauna
fallout
direct deposit of solid minerals on land or in the ocean from the atmosphere
hydrosphere
area of the Earth where water movement and storage occurs
non-renewable resource
resource, such as fossil fuel, that is either regenerated very slowly or not at all
residence time
measure of the average time an individual water molecule stays in a particular reservoir
subduction
movement of one tectonic plate beneath another