Phosphorous Cycle Practice

Once inorganic phosphate has been released by weather of rocks, which of the following might be it's next step in the phosphorus cycle?

• it can become part of surface water and runoff into the ocean, and eventually become new rock at the bottom of the ocean through the process of sedimentation

• it can become part of the soil and be taken up by plant roots and used to make lipids, ATP, nucleic acids and other cellular molecules

• it can become part of groundwater and leech into the ocean, and eventually become new rock through the process of sedimentation

• all of the answers are possible pathways for phosphorus

What is the original, and primary reservoir of inorganic phosphate (PO₄^3-)in terrestrial ecosystems?

• live plants and animals

• groundwater

• the atmosphere

• rocks

Plants are the only organisms that can directly absorb inorganic phosphorus ions (PO₄^3-) and turn them into organic molecules that can support all other life processes in an ecosystem.

• true

• false

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS2-1

NGSS.MS-LS2-3

NGSS.MS-LS2-4

Inorganic phosphate (PO₄^3-) is added to the soil by which three processes?

• uplift; sedimentation; consumption

• live plants; animal decomposition; bacterial fixation

• precipitation; runoff; weathering of rock

• animal excretion; decomposition; weathering of rock

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS2-3

Why is phosphorus important to biology?

• it works alongside the nitrogen cycle to fertilize plants

• it is the primary component of mountains, which serve as habitats for animals

• it enhances decomposition of organic matter

• it is a component of many biological molecules, such as nucleic acids, some lipids, ATP, and bony structures

Nitrogen and carbon are cycled on a global scale. Why does phosphorus cycling tend to occur more locally?

• it primarily involves the weather of rocks, which are mostly stationary

• it only involves land animals that cannot swim across oceans to transport the nutrient

• it occurs in areas where cloud formation is low, so it rarely gets trapped in water vapors

• all of the answers are correct

The phosphorus cycle occurs much more quickly than the carbon and nitrogen cycles.

• true

• false