.
*DEATH STAGE #6*
.
-[de-composition] is the process by which ‘organic substances’ are broken down into a more simple [organic matter]-
.
(the process is a part of the ‘nutrient cycle’ a is essential for recycling the finite matter that occupies physical space in the ‘biosphere’)
(bodies of ‘living organisms’ begin to decompose shortly after death)
(animals (such as ‘worms’) also help de-compose the ‘organic materials’)
(‘organisms’ that do this are known as ‘de-composers’)
(although no 2 organisms decompose in the same way, they all undergo the same sequential stages of ‘de-composition’)
(the science which studies de-composition is generally referred to as taphonomy from the greek word taphos, meaning ‘tomb’)
(‘we’ (as ‘humans’) can differentiate abiotic from biotic decomposition (‘bio-degradation’))
(the former means “degradation of a substance by ‘chemical’ or ‘physical’ processes” (eg ‘hydrolysis’))
(the latter means “the ‘metabolic breakdown’ of ‘materials’ into ‘simpler components’ by ‘living organisms'” (typically by ‘micro-organisms’))
.
.
*SKETCHES*
*.
|/\-*WIKI-LINK*-/\|.
.
.
*“SKELETONIZATION” (STAGE #7)* ☞ 
.
.
.
.
.
.
*.
.
