Nitrogen it's a chemical element non-metallic, colorless, gaseous, odorless and transparent, which is present in a very high percentage in the air. It is symbolized by the letter N capital letter, while its atomic number is the number 7.
Meanwhile, it is called as nitrogen cycle to each of the processes, whether abiotic or biological, from which this element is supplied to living beings; Formally, it is a biogeochemical cycle that consists of the movement of this element, or others such as carbon, oxygen, calcium, hydrogen, sulfur, potassium, phosphorus, between the environment and the living being.
Thanks to this process, the dynamic balance in terms of composition of the terrestrial biosphere is guaranteed.
It should be noted that living beings have a significant amount of nitrogen in their chemical composition. They receive oxidized nitrogen through salts (nitrate) and it is transformed into amino acids, the most common being those that are integrated into proteins.
Meanwhile, for nitrate to be present again, the intervention of organisms is necessary to extract it from the biomass and return it in the reduced form of ammonium ion.
Now, as ammonium and nitrate are very soluble substances that the current and infiltration drag them very easily towards the sea, it would not be possible for this element to remain at atmospheric level after its conversion, then, the oceans would be very rich in terms of Nitrogen and the most continental masses, unfortunately, would not have this chemical element as important for life as we have already seen.
However, there are two other processes that allow the continents not to become biological deserts as a consequence of the lack of nitrogen and these are: nitrogen fixation and denitrification. It should be noted that both processes are reciprocally symmetric.
Nitrogen fixation generates soluble compounds from atmospheric nitrogen, while denitrification, which is a form of anaerobic respiration, will return nitrogen to the atmosphere.
Thanks to these two processes it is possible to maintain a remarkable nitrogen deposit in the air, representing 78% of the volume.
