The Oxygen Cycle – Explained

(With Diagram)
The atmosphere contains about 21% oxygen. The atmospheric
oxygen enters the living organisms, as a gas required in respiration.

During this process carbon dioxide and water are formed.

C6 H12 O6 + 6O2 —–> 6 CO2 + 6 H2O + energy

The metabolic water thus formed is added to all other water present
in living organisms and as such it may undergo three possible fates.
Some of it may be excreted and so added to the water content of the
environment. Another part may be used as a building material for
the formation of more living matter. A third possible fate of the
water within organism is its consumption as a fundamental raw
material along with the carbon dioxide in photosynthesis.

In this process the oxygen is liberated as shown by the

following equation:
6 CO2 + 6 H2O + light energy
Such free oxygen may now again be used in respiration or it may be
returned to the environment as molecular atmospheric oxygen,
completing the cycle (Fig. 5.7). Thus oxygen enters organisms only
through respiration and leaves through photosynthesis. In
intervening steps the oxygen is incorporated in water, and in this
form it can interlink with the water cycle or indirectly with carbon
cycle.
The oxygen is the atmosphere is the source of ozone (O3). The Ozone
layer protects organisms by preventing most of the ultraviolet and
X-ray from reaching the earth’s surface. The most recent factor
affecting the oxygen cycle of the biosphere and the oxygen budget of
the earth in the man himself. In addition to inhaling oxygen and
exhaling carbon dioxide, man decreases the oxygen level and
increases the carbon dioxide level by burning fossil fuels.
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Oxygen Cycle
All living things need oxygen. Oxygen is necessary for respiration; we inhale oxygen and breathe out
carbon dioxide. Living cells need oxygen to create energy. Just like the hydrological cycle, oxygen is
cycled in the environment.

Plants start the oxygen cycle. Plants use solar energy for the process of photosynthesis to convert
carbon dioxide and water into carbohydrates and oxygen. Plants take in oxygen and give out carbon
dioxide. The other half of the cycle is happens with the animals. We take in oxygen to break
carbohydrates into energy and give out carbon dioxide by the process of respiration. Thus, the oxygen
produced by the plants is used by animals.

But this process of oxygen cycle is not as simple as it seems. Let us learn more in detail about the
essential oxygen cycle.

Definition
The biogeochemical cycle that describes about the movement of oxygen in the atmosphere (air), the
biological matter of the ecosystem biosphere (the global sum of all ecosystems) and the lithosphere
(earth's crust). The oxygen cycle helps the movement of oxygen in the three main regions of the earth,
the atmosphere, biosphere and the lithosphere. It is the circulation of oxygen in various forms of nature.
Oxygen is free in the air and dissolved in water.

Steps
Atmosphere is the region of gases about the surface of the Earth and it is one of the largest reservoirs
of free oxygen. Biosphere is the total sum of all ecosystems and has some free oxygen which is
produced by the process of photosynthesis and other life processes. Lithosphere is the largest reserve
of oxygen. Most of the oxygen in the lithosphere is free moving and is a part of silicates and oxides of
chemical compounds. The oxygen cycle describes about the free and fixed oxygen of the major
spheres.
The oxygen cycle steps:

 The oxygen in the atmosphere is freed by the process of photolysis. The energy in the sunlight
breaks the oxygen bearing oxygen to produce free oxygen. Oxygen molecule is broken down
by UV rays from the sun. This cycle shields earth from harmful UV rays.

 In the biosphere, oxygen undergoes cycles of respiration and photosynthesis. Humans and
animals breathe in oxygen. This oxygen is used in metabolic processes and carbon dioxide
given out. Plants and phytoplanktons undergo process of photosynthesis where carbon dioxide
is used in the prescence of sunlight to form carbohydrates and oxygen.

 In the lithosphere, oxygen is fixed in minerals like silicates and oxides. Oxygen from these
minerals is freed by chemical weathering. When the mineral bearing oxygen is exposed to
chemical reaction, the mineral wears down free oxygen is produced.

Diagram

The pictorial illustration of the oxygen cycle is:

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