Oxygen cycle

Definition of Oxygen
 Oxygen – a colorless, odorless, tasteless
gas
 Denser than air
 Poor conductor of heat and electricity

Oxygen
 Oxygen, one of the main
components of the Earth’s
atmosphere, can always be found
with other elements.
 Two oxygen atoms make up one
oxygen molecule, and three oxygen
atoms together make up the
molecule called ozone.

Biological Importance of
Oxygen
 Humans need it to breathe
 Needed for decomposition of organic
waste
 Water can dissolve oxygen and it is
this dissolved oxygen that supports
aquatic life.

Ecological Importance of
Oxygen
 Without oxygen at the bottom of the water body, anaerobic
bacteria (those that live without oxygen) produce acids. These
acids not only increase acidity, but also cause a massive release of
phosphorus and nitrogen, two major fertilizers, from the organic
sediment and into the water column.
 These same anaerobic bacteria put toxic gases in the water
including hydrogen sulfide (that rotten egg smell), ammonia,
carbon dioxide and methane. These gases are all toxic to fish,
beneficial bacteria and insects.
 Lack of bottom oxygen is the cause of odors produced by
anaerobic bacteria.

Ecological Importance of Oxygen
Cont.
 Lack of fish enables disease-hosting mosquitoes to thrive, as
mosquitoes are natural food for fish.
 Without oxygen at the bottom at all times, beneficial bacteria
and insects cannot biodegrade the organic sediment. Large
accumulations of organic sediment follow.

The Main Reservoirs
 Biosphere (living things)
 Lithosphere (Earth’s crust)
 Atmosphere (air)
 Hydrosphere(water)
The reservoirs are the locations in
which oxygen is found.

Earth’s Layers
 The lithosphere is Earth's surrounding layer,
composed of solids such as soil and rock.
 The atmosphere is the surrounding thin layer of
gas.
 The hydrosphere refers to liquid environments
such as lakes and oceans that lie between the
lithosphere and atmosphere.
 The biosphere's creation and continuous
existence results from chemical, biological, and
physical processes.

Biosphere and Atmosphere
 Within the biosphere and
atmosphere, plants begin the
oxygen cycle and animals continue
it.
 Photolysis also donates to a large
portion of the oxygen in the
atmosphere, where high energy
ultraviolet radiation breaks down
the atmospheric water and nitrate.

Biosphere and Atmosphere
 Much of the oxygen present in the
atmosphere is used during
respiration and decay mechanisms,
where animal life and bacteria
consume oxygen and release
carbon dioxide.
 Oxygen is also cycled between the
biosphere and lithosphere.
 Burning.

What is the Oxygen Cycle?
 In the oxygen cycle, oxygen atoms
present in the earth circulate
through a series of intricate
processes.
 Like the nitrogen, carbon, and
water cycles, the oxygen cycle is a
biogeochemical cycle.
 A biogeochemical cycle is the
movement of matter through the
biotic and the abiotic spheres of the
ecosystem.

Step One of Oxygen Cycle
 Plant release oxygen into the atmosphere
as a by-product of photosynthesis.
oxygen

Photosynthesis
 Plants take in carbon dioxide and water
and use them to make food. Their food is
simple sugar — glucose.

Photosynthesis
•Definition- process in which green plants use the
energy from the sun to make carbohydrates from
carbon dioxide and water in the presence of
chlorophyll.

Photosynthesis (continued)
 Plants pull the carbon off CO2 and use the
carbon in glucose. (They do not need the oxygen for this. They
get that from water, H2O.)
 Plants release the oxygen (O2) back into the
atmosphere.
 Other organisms use the free oxygen for
respiration.

Step Two of Oxygen Cycle
 Animals take in oxygen through the
process of respiration.
 Animals then break down sugars and
food.

Respiration
 Process by which an organism exchanges
gases with its environment
 Process → oxygen is abstracted from air,
transported to cells for the oxidation of
organic molecules while CO2
and H2O, the
products of oxidation, are returned to the
environment

All Animals and Other Consumers
Use Oxygen
 We use oxygen to break down simple
sugar and release energy.
 This can be done through respiration or
fermentation.
 Animals mainly use respiration.

Simple Sugar — Glucose
The molecule most living things use for
energy — including us!
 We break down food into smaller molecules
during digestion. One of the small molecules is
glucose.
 Glucose leaves your intestines, goes into your
blood and is taken to every cell in your body.

Respiration
 The process that breaks apart simple food
molecules to release energy.
 It occurs inside cells.
 What YOU do with the oxygen you take in.

Respiration in Cells
 In your cells, oxygen is used to split
glucose apart — releasing energy, water
and carbon dioxide.

Step Three in Oxygen Cycle
 Carbon dioxide is released by animals and
used in plants in photosynthesis.
 Oxygen is balanced between the
atmosphere and the ocean.

How do plants contribute?
 The oxygen cycle begins with
plants and photosynthesis.
 Through photosynthesis, plants
convert the energy from the sun
and water into carbohydrates and
oxygen.
 During the day: plants convert
carbon dioxide into oxygen.
 During the night: plants convert
oxygen into carbon dioxide to
maintain their metabolism.

How do living organisms
contribute?
 Humans and animals breathe in
oxygen and breathe out carbon
dioxide through their processes of
metabolism, sparking the process of
photosynthesis, once again linking
back to the plants’ contribution to the
oxygen cycle.

Oxygen cycle

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Oxygen cycle