Phosphorus Cycle

Question 1

Phosphorus (phosphate) Cycle

Answer 1

biogeochemical cycle describing the transformation and translocation of phosphorus in soil, water, and living and dead organic material

Question 2

Step 1

Answer 2

phosphorus gets extracted from mines or erodes from rocks

Question 3

Step 2

Answer 3

either goes into streams and rivers as runoff or gets used in fertilizer, enabling plant uptake and growth

Question 4

Step 3

Answer 4

runoff enters water, becoming dissolved phosphates

Question 5

Step 4

Answer 5

uptake by plants or algae and other photosynthetic organisms

Question 6

Step 5

Answer 6

uptake by aquatic and marine animals (incapable of photosynthesis)

Question 7

Step 6

Answer 7

organic decomposition (waste or death), leads back to dissolved phosphates