This article provides a flow diagram of the mineral cycle.
Quite a good number of minerals are essential for biological life processes. They are either used as major or minor essential elements. They are mostly stored in rocks and soils (i.e., lithosphere). They are absorbed by the plants and used in metabolism, while animals obtain them from plants as food sources.
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They may be available in water bodies as soluble ions. In organic combination they may be stored in biomass. In particulate matters, minerals are also present in substantial amounts and are thereby absorbed by plants. A schematic flow diagram of mineral cycle is given in Fig. 5.24.
