PHOSPHOROUS CYCLE

PHOSPHORUS CYCLE

• Phosphorus comes from rocks and deposits on the earth
• Deposits can also come from fossizlized bone or bird droppings called guano
• Weathering and erosion of rocks also releases phosphorus ss phosphate ions in water
• Land plants need phosphate as a fertilizer or nutrient

Plant materials and waste products decay through bacterial action.

Phosphate is then released and returned to the environment for reuse.

The phosphate washes away into the after from erosionn and leaching.

Water plants and algae use the phosphate as nutrient.

Without the needed amount of phosphate, plant growth is stunted or slowed.

Phosphate can end up as shallow sediments and be recycled back into the water for further reuse.

In deep sediments in water, its use is a general uplifting of rock formations for the cycle to repeat itself.

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