biogeochemical cycle

Scientific  

/ bī′ō-jē′ō-kĕm′ĭ-kəl /

1. The flow of chemical elements and compounds between living organisms and the physical environment. Chemicals absorbed or ingested by organisms are passed through the food chain and returned to the soil, air, and water by such mechanisms as respiration, excretion, and decomposition. As an element moves through this cycle, it often forms compounds with other elements as a result of metabolic processes in living tissues and of natural reactions in the atmosphere, hydrosphere, or lithosphere.

2. See more at carbon cycle nitrogen cycle

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Example Sentences

Their findings, published in Limnology and Oceanography, focus attention on the role organic sulfur compounds play in this biogeochemical cycle.

From Science Daily

Most of these nutrients are continuously being moved through a biogeochemical cycle, which transports nutrients and other chemicals through the living and nonliving parts of Earth—for example, iron that was once in a rock might later enter the soil where it can be absorbed by a plant and then eaten by an animal.

From Scientific American

It's an amazing, giant recycling system called the biogeochemical cycle.

From Scientific American

The biogeochemical cycle is a closed system, which means that the nutrients aren't lost or created; they're continuously reused and recycled.

From Scientific American

A surprising drop in atmospheric mercury levels since the mid-1990s points to a substantial shift in the global biogeochemical cycle of the toxic element.

From Nature