Question

2 points
15. Which of the following
organisms release the locked
up (in biomolecules) or organic
phosphorus back to abiotic
environment?​

Answer 1

Answer:

The phosphorus cycle is slow compared to other biogeochemical cycles such as the water, carbon, and nitrogen cycles.

start superscript, 1, end superscript

In nature, phosphorus is found mostly in the form of phosphate ions

start text, P, O, end text, start subscript, 4, end subscript, start superscript, 3, minus, end superscript. Phosphate compounds are found in sedimentary rocks, and as the rocks weather—wear down over long time periods—the phosphorus they contain slowly leaches into surface water and soils. Volcanic ash, aerosols, and mineral dust can also be significant phosphate sources, though phosphorus has no real gas phase, unlike other elements such as carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur.

Phosphate compounds in the soil can be taken up by plants and, from there, transferred to animals that eat the plants. When plants and animals excrete wastes or die, phosphates may be taken up by detritivores or returned to the soil. Phosphorus-containing compounds may also be carried in surface runoff to rivers, lakes, and oceans, where they are taken up by aquatic organisms.

When phosphorus-containing compounds from the bodies or wastes of marine organisms sink to the floor of the ocean, they form new sedimentary layers. Over long periods of time, phosphorus-containing sedimentary rock may be moved from the ocean to the land by a geological process called uplift. However, this process is very slow, and the average phosphate ion has an oceanic residence time—time in the ocean—of 20,000 to 100,000 years.