A
most common source of phosphates in the soil is the weathering of the mineral apatite.
Explanation:
Apatite is a group of phosphate minerals like hydroxylapatite, fluorapatite, and chlorapatite. When apatite rocks weather, they release the phosphate minerals mainly in the form of PO₄ ³⁻ . These minerals become dissolved in water (hydrosphere), where they are readily available to plants and other organisms in the biosphere. The phosphates are taken up and used in biosynthesis. When these organisms die and become buried with sediments, the phosphate gets back to the lithosphere as sedimentary rock.
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