The Global Sulfur Cycle: Sources, Sinks, and Fluxes

Sulfur is the tenth most abundant element on earth, and is vital for all life and plays a crucial role in the folding of proteins and formation of amino acids. The biological processing allows life to exist in some of the most extreme conditions on earth such as deep sea thermal vents, areas of extreme pH and temperature, and in the absence of other vital elements and minerals. This research project aims to give an in depth look at the global sulfur cycle to understand the ways that sulfur travels through the major reservoirs: goesphere, ocean, atmosphere, soil, and biota. The fluxes that transport the sulfur link each of the reservoirs through chemical and physical processes such as weathering, anthropogenic sources, and biochemical processes. Scientific journals and other primary research tools were used in the compilation of the complete sulfur cycle. Major focuses of the paper included anthropogenic sources of sulfur and how they are altering the ways that sulfur is cycled in various reservoirs and consequences such as acid rain and soil toxification