Phosphorus Cycle
-Sarah Veilleux, Haris Quershi,
Teddy Sauyet
We’ll start with the beginning
• It starts with the
rocks, the
sedimentary ones.
They have the
phosphorus, in a form
called apatite, which
also goes by its alter
ego, Ca5(PO4)3OH.
*Note
The sedimentary rocks merely add
phosphorus to the cycle, they are not
actually part of the cycle.
Ignoring that…
• The sedimentary rocks will then weather
down from storms and such which move
the apatite into the soil.
Now for the fun part..
• The plants then use the phosphorus in
their reproductive structures, such as DNA
and RNA.
So what if there is a lot of
phosphorus?
•
•
•
•
OVERGROWTH.
Lets say it again.
OVERGROWTH.
Not just above the ground, their roots will
also grow large! This is why many
fertilizers today use phosphorus.
Then animals, like us, eat the
plants!
• And the phosphorus goes through the food
chain, which we will not bother to reteach
you. (Now if you do not know this, this
would be a great time to raise your hand).
The animals then produce scat.
• Which goes back into the cycle, starting
with the soil!! Ta da!!
• (Censored because its impossible to find
an appropriate picture googling “scat”
However..
• Sometimes, due to run off, phosphorus
enters areas of water!!! What happens
now???
Well, it's not that exciting...
• It just sort of goes through the marine food
chain.
BUT
• It might eventually settle to the bottom,
where it becomes trapped in layers of
sedimentary rock!!
For 100 THOUSAND Years!!
• Or until it is brought back to the surface by
geologic forces. Long long time.