= Silicon cycle
The <silicon cycle> is the movement and transformation of <silicon> among rocks, dissolved compounds, living <organisms> and sediments. In the ocean, <diatoms> take up dissolved <silicic acid> to construct <silica> cell walls. After death, their material can sink, dissolve and return silicon to the dissolved pool, or be retained in sediments.<Accelerated dissolution of diatom silica by marine bacterial assemblages by Kay D. Bidle and Farooq Azam>[Introduction: diatom demand, sinking biogenic silica and dissolution]{ref}
<Kay D. Bidle> and <Farooq Azam> compared diatom-silica dissolution with marine bacterial processing. Faster dissolution associated with removal of the organic covering showed that recycling depends on the particle's biological coating as well as its mineral content. Microbial decomposition can thus change how rapidly a mineral nutrient becomes available again.<Accelerated dissolution of diatom silica by marine bacterial assemblages by Kay D. Bidle and Farooq Azam>[Abstract and bacterial-dissolution experiments, Nature 397, 508–512]{ref}
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