What is it?
- The transfer of oxygen through the atmosphere (air), Biosphere (plants and animals), and Lithosphere (the earth’s crust) is referred to as the oxygen cycle.
- The oxygen cycle depicts how free oxygen is produced and used in each of these environments.
- The oxygen cycle is the biogeochemical cycle of oxygen atoms in ions, oxides, and molecules between different oxidation states via redox processes inside and between the planet’s spheres/reservoirs.
Steps
- As a by-product of photosynthesis, all green plants release oxygen into the atmosphere.
- All aerobic organisms need free oxygen for respiration.
- Animals emit carbon dioxide, which plants re-absorb during photosynthesis. The amount of oxygen in the atmosphere has reached a state of equilibrium.
