Sand County Almanac Pt. 2

In the second part of the Sand County Almanac, the task was to identify elements X and Y. I was under the impression that element X was nitrogen. The essay talked about X laying in the soil, and being carried by the rains. That is part of the nitrogen cycle. Nitrogen is found in the soil, and used by plants. It is fixated by bacteria, and then is used by plants. The plants are eaten by other consumers, who eventually die, and the nitrogen is then decomposed into the soil. Then, the cycle begins again. As for element Y, I believe it is carbon. I'm led to this assumption by one of the final lines that says, "The atoms that once grew pasque-flowers to greet the returning plovers now lie inert, confused, imprisoned in oily sludge". Carbon is the main element in oil, which in some cases turns into diamonds, that are wholly carbon. I believe this last part of the essay is describing the process of the carbon cycle, where carbon is exchanged between the biosphere, pedosphere, geosphere, hydrosphere, and the atmosphere. The essay did a fantastic job at descriptively describing biogeochemical cycles via a narrative. It painted a pretty picture of how nitrogen and carbon are exchanged, and made it easier to understand. It made me think of these elements in a more rounded manner, that they aren't just a couple letters in the periodic table. They are a universal necessity that drives all life. It is impressive, to say the least. I think it's really fascinating that I'm made up of recycled nitrogen and carbon that could've been part of a tree in a past life, or another person, or animal. It'd be even more mind blowing if somehow we could trace the bits of nitrogen and carbon in our bodies to find where they originated. Who knows, maybe one day that'd be possible.

"Nitrogen Cycle". Licensed under Public domain via Wikimedia Commons