This paper examines the essential biogeochemical cycles that sustain life on Earth. It covers the following cycles:
- Water cycle: Describes the continuous movement of water between the Earth’s surface and the atmosphere, including processes such as evaporation, condensation, and precipitation, and its impact on climate phenomena such as ENSO.
- Carbon cycle: Explains how carbon circulates between the atmosphere, biosphere, oceans, and geosphere, including photosynthesis, respiration, decomposition, and its storage in rocks and oceans.
- Nitrogen cycle: Details the stages of fixation, nitrification, assimilation, ammonification, and denitrification, highlighting the importance of nitrogen for life and the processes that convert it into forms usable by organisms.
- Phosphorus cycle: Describes how phosphorus moves between the lithosphere, hydrosphere, and biosphere, emphasizing its importance for life and its non-atmospheric cycle, given that it does not occur in a gaseous form.
- Sulfur cycle: Analyzes how sulfur circulates through the atmosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere, and lithosphere, including its release through the decomposition of organisms and human activities, and its role in the formation of acid rain.
The paper underscores the interconnection between living organisms and their environment, and the importance of conserving ecosystems to maintain these vital cycles.
DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.11203895 – Download PDF