User:BeccaMGM/sandbox

Article Evaluation (Image)
The current iron cycle diagram is in sore need of an update, with its content being both unclear and sparse. Omissions range from small to large, from a lack of flux and reservoir values, to missing labels for arrows and components. Additionally, the diagram includes biological uptake of iron but does not indicate how that iron might move to other parts of the cycle. The purpose of some included components is unclear. For example, lava and the sun are portrayed, but their ability to cycle iron is undefined.

Without much text to judge tone, however, one thing that could be corrected is either using Fe2+/3+ or Fe(II)/(III), not both formats. Additionally, the text to describe the image starts "this one briefly describes..." Another way to assess the image is by its visual quality. The artwork appears amateurish, with hints that it was generated using Microsoft Word or similar software. It is unclear at first what is ground, sky, and ocean, and whether it uses a transect or aerial view. Some labels and arrows overlap and some words are broken into two lines.

Citation for this image is also poor. Only one link is provided, which directs to a page on scitable.com that no longer works. The name of the link given by the image author is "Earth's iron cycle" and when scitable and "Earth's iron cycle" are googled, this link can be found. It is likely that this is the source that the author used, since much of the imagery appears similar, although of lower quality. If so, a legitimate source does seem to have been used, but the link must be corrected.

I was not able to find a talk page for the image itself, the talk page of the author had no (Jsun15) had no user-added content, and the talk page for the article was primarily a list of sources to update the page.

Image Draft
[[File:Iron cycle3.pdf|thumb|The biogeochemical iron cycle:

Iron circulates through the lithosphere, atmosphere, hydrosphere, and biosphere, pictured here in a simplified diagram. Labeled arrows show the flux mechanisms between the iron reservoirs. Iron in the ocean cycles between plankton, aggregated particulates, and dissolved iron, and is deposited into sediments through burial. Hydrothermal vents release ferrous iron which contributes to dissolved oceanic iron. Iron-containing particles reach the atmosphere through volcanism or aeolian wind and may later be deposited on Earth’s solid surface or in the ocean. Glaciers, icebergs, and rivers also provide a regular flux of iron to the dissolved iron oceanic reservoir. In the current industrial climate, human activity has a notable effect on iron fluxes, with nearly 700 Tg/year of iron removed from the lithosphere by mining and only around 200 Tg/year returned to the lithosphere through slag, landfills, and other waste repositories. Many of the shown flux pathways are under current investigation, and various biogeochemical models provide a range of flux values. ]]