Decay occurs when animals or plants die. They then decompose, which means the organism breaks down. There are important factors for decay. Temperature, the amount of oxygen, and the amount of water are all key factors for decomposition. Decomposition has been taking place since life has appeared on our planet, and it continues to play a significant role in human life today.
There are two types of decomposition, anaerobic and aerobic decomposition. Both are complete opposites anaerobic decomposition takes place in nature, in marshes and mud where oxygen can’t get to the organism. Aerobic decomposition is when the organism is decomposed from oxygen. In most cases, aerobic decomposition would take place.
“When a nucleus decays, particles and energy are emitted from it. We call this emission nuclear radiation. Three types of nuclear radiation are alpha, beta, and gamma radiation. Alpha and beta are composed of particles. Gamma radiation is composed of electromagnetic waves.” (Mc-Graw Hill Physical Science p.621.)
Alpha decay is a radioactive process in which an alpha particle particle with two neutrons and two protons is removed from the nucleus of a radioactive atom. The alpha particle is basically identical to a helium particle. The alpha particle is the weakest of the three. It can be stopped by a sheet of paper.
“Beta decay is a radioactive process in which an electron is emitted from the nucleus of a radioactive atom, along with an unusual particle called an antineutrino. The neutrino is an almost massless particle that carries away some of the energy from the decay process. Because this electron is from the nucleus of the atom, it is called a beta particle to distinguish it from the electrons which orbit the atom.”(“Beta." ...
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...sed. They get killed or eaten, not many organisms live for a very long time. “If every organism that died did not decay and rot away, the earth's surface would soon be covered in a deep layer of dead bodies that would remain intact indefinitely. A similar situation would arise if animal and plant wastes never rotted away. Fortunately this does not happen because dead organisms and animal wastes become food or a habitat for some other organisms to live on.”(“Decomposition." Decomposition. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Jan. 2014.)
Some dead animals will be consumed from scavengers. The organisms that aren’t eaten by larger animals are quickly decomposed or broken down by a group of insects including beetles and flies, worms, maggots, as well as bacteria, molds and fungi. These organisms are known as decomposers. The lives of most organisms are dependent on the death of others.
Physicists started to realize that stable nuclei can be converted to unstable nuclei. Through such process, they discovered that heavy nuclei can undergo nuclear fission. While testing, they added a neutron to an isotope of Uranium 235. This resulted Uranium 235 to become unstable and break down into Barium and Krypton, releasing two to three more neutrons. The breakdown of Uranium 235 is called “fission”.
The disposition of the dead is facilitated in variety of ways because people have died at all points in history and the living have always mourned the dearth of loved ones with some type of ceremony. The way a person is buried is sometimes the deceased person’s wishes as stated in a will or legal document or it could be the decision of the family. But most times once you are dead others can do with your body as they wish.
It has been found that the decomposition process is best divided into five stages: fresh stage, bloated stage, decay stage, post-decay stage, and remains. The fresh stage starts the moment the individual died and lasts until bloating can be observed. The bloated stage is usually within two to seven days after death. Putrefaction begins at this stage and the gases produced from bacteria cause...
This is going to be used as an example to show how the decaying of
The food that they throw away first goes to the dumpsters and then they end up in landfills. This is also where the dumpster divers, or “scavengers” as Eighner prefers to be called, begin their search for food (353). Where he mostly found a great deal of dumpsters was in the city. As he puts it, “the land is now covered with cities,” which means that there will be an abundance of trash that needs to be disposed of (361). This leads to more landfills needed to be made and that takes a toll on the earth. Dockterman has stated that “the buildup of decomposing organic material accounts for 16% of environmentally harmful methane emissions in the U.S.;” these emissions go into the atmosphere that we breath our oxygen from (Dockterman). Not only does this practice affect people survival-wise, but also the earth that billions of people live
In the coral reef habitat, food consumption is based on sunlight. The sunlight gives food to the plants, bacteria and algae, which is eaten by the plant eaters or herbivores, such as parrotfishes. The bigger carnivores, such as the Whitetip Reef Shark, in the ecosystem then eat those fishes along with the bacteria and plankton in the water. On the other hand, the deep sea is based on dead animal bodies or waste, shown in the fake whale carcass in the deep sea exhibit. Organisms of the deep sea feed on waste because sunlight does not have the ability to reach that deep in the ocean. Nektons are the fishes that feed on the waste produced by the epipelagic zone.
Archaeologists, however, have the tendency to categorize burial practices as either normal or deviant. This categorization can be misleading as it implies there is a right or wrong way to bury the dead.
Alpha radiation consists of positively charged particles emitted from the nucleus of an atom in the process of decay. With strong positive charge, the density of alpha precludes them from penetrating more than an inch of air or a sheet of paper. Because of this, alpha particles are not a serious health hazard except when they...
Microbial decomposition releases nutrients into the environment that are needed by other organisms. Microbes are also involved in the cycling of many other important compounds in — and between — ecosystems, including oxygen, carbon and nitrogen. Many microbes use the energy of sunlight to convert carbon dioxide to oxygen, which we need to breathe. As they do this, they create new organic material — themselves — which are then eaten by other organisms. In this way, the cycling of nutrients and energy
Composting is the process of biodegrading the waste material in which an enormous number of materials like hydrocarbons, nitrogenous compounds, acids, their derivatives and even other organic and inorganic substances can be remediated from the environment (Finstein et al., 1986). Compost pro...
Metabolism occurs in animals and humans after the ingestion of organic plant or animal foods. In the cells a series of complex reactions occurs with oxygen to convert. For example glucose sugar into the products of carbon dioxide and water and energy. This reaction is also carried out by bacteria in the decomposition/decay of waste maters on land and in water.
Recycling is a six step process. First they must be cleaned and separated by the
More than fifty species of birds are known to ingest plastic. When they eat plastic, they feel full, so some of them die of starvation. Algal blooms are another thing that kills marine life. Algal blooms are sea scum, whale food, and sea sawdust. Algal blooms are bundles of fine threads, rusty brown, they have a fishy smell, and are common in August through December.
What is radioactivity? Radioactive isotopes are heavy nuclei of certain elements having extra neutrons. The extra neutrons in their nuclei cause them to be unstable so the nuclei break up spontaneously, emitting alpha, beta and gamma radiations. For example,
First type of biogeochemical cycle is nitrogen cycle. Nitrogen is abundant and chemically inert gases, constitutes of about 78% of the atmosphere. According to Stevenson and Cole (1999), accumulation in soil happens through microbial fixation of nitrogen in the presence of ammonia, nitrate and nitrite; depletion exists in the process of crop removal, leaching and volatilization. In term of that, the process of releasing compound during decomposition is called mineralization. Mineralization process is carried out by the microorganisms in which it releases carbon, and also ammonium (Sprent, 1987). As a result, many kinds of organic reduce nitrogen present, like urea, organic bases, such as purines and pyrimidines, and amino compounds. Animals have nitrogenous wastes and will eventually produce lots of nitrogen (Sprent, 1987). Several pathways are illustrated throughout the nitrogen cycle, such as nitrogen fixation, ammonification, nitrification and denitrification. Gates (1921) stated that the process of converted gaseous nitrogen into ammonia or ammonium is nitrogen fixation, while ammonium can also be produced through the decaying of nitrogenous organic substance, which is called ammonification. Afte...