The Phosphorous Cycle

Don’t Leave the Womb Without it

We begin…

• Mineral sources of phosphorous contains the phosphate group, PO₄³ˉ

• Apatites – compounds of general formula Ca₅(PO₄)₃X, where X is usually F , Cl , or OH ˉ ˉˉ

• No gaseous component

The Inorganic Cycle

• Millions of years• Most PO₄³ rock formed when Earth’s ˉ

lithosphere solidified• Weathering leaches PO₄³ from the soil & ˉ

carries the ions to the sea• PO₄³ is precipitated by Ca²⁺ ion & deposited ˉ

to the continental shelf• Geological activity lifts the continental shelves

returning the PO₄³ to the landˉ

Land-Based Biological Cycle

• Years…opposed to millions. From 10⁶ to 10⁰. • Incorporation of PO₄³ into organisms & the ˉ

release of it through their excretion and decay• Plants remove PO₄³ from the inorganic cycleˉ• In topsoil, PO₄³ ’s occur as insoluble comp’dsˉ• Plants evolved ability to convert the insoluble

salts into the soluble ion• Recycled as the plants & animals ExD&D

The Water-Based Biological Cycle

• Weeks to years• Within 1 minute 50% of PO₄³ ion is taken up ˉ

by photosynthetic algae• Recycled when animals ExD&D• Some PO₄³ returns to land by fish-eating ˉ

animals• Some aquatic phosphate return to the

inorganic cycle precipitated from Ca²⁺

The Cycle

How Do We Use Phosporus?

• Ben Franklin’s certainties:– Death, and Taxes.

• He forgot:– Excrete– Decay

• Phosphorus houses cells with the lipid bilayer. Without this, they would not exist as we know them.

As such, inventions utilize this to limit undesirable life systems for, crop promotion and fertilizers.

• The major concern remains that removing PO₄³ from ˉthe Earth what took millions of years to get there in only a few centuries, can rewire our ecosystems

• We don’t fear losing our resources, since our use (100 metric tons annually) is dwarfed by the 10¹¹ metric tons that have arrived via extraterrestrial sources since the world’s birth.

The Real Enemy!

• Using harmful pesticides and fertilizers can maximize crops, but over time, diminish our natural resources and reintroduce PO₄³ ˉback into the biosphere

• We run the major risk of un-balancing our biomass

The Enemy!Major Sources from Our Communities:

• Tripolyphosphates in detergeants• Human Garbage• And of course…

Eutrophication• This refers to PO₄³ leaking back into H₂O ˉ

systems through irrigation during farming• Eu- (good) trophos (to nourish)• Algae and cytoplankton grows rapidly

thanks to the increase in nutrients

• Because of the increase in PO₄³ in aqua systems, this ˉrobs the water of its O₂, and thereby other life systems

• It also robs deeper water of sunlight• Other effects have not been fully…

documented