EOSC 112 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Coccolith, Eutrophication, Denitrification

• School: UBC
• Department: Earth and Ocean Sciences
• Course: EOSC 112
• Professor: Debeare Bart

Document Summary

Carbon, nitrogen, phosphate and water are all essential nutrients for all living cells on the planet, they are the building blocks of the cells such as proteins and lipids, etc. but they are needed to build the dna itself. Living organisms need two things a source of energy and a source of raw materials to build living tissues and skeletons or shells. Life on earth is water based, but in addition to this, organisms need a wide range of other elements. Besides carbon and water the top two are nitrogen and phosphorus. Other elements are essential but in trace amounts. Many metals for example are constituents of important enzymes that regulate a wide range of body functions such as respiration, digestion, growth, etc. Once these basic needs are met, then an organism is able to: Grow and maintain itself for a period of time. Mutate to evolve into better adapted life forms.