Water biosphere interface

A. Pohorille and M.A. Wilson. Molecular dynamics studies of simple membrane water interfaces — structure and functions in the beginnings of cellular life. Origins Life Evol. Biosphere, 25 (1995) 21-46. 

The purpose of this article is to consider the nature of soils, how soils are contaminated by human activities, how these contaminants are transported and transformed in the soil column, and the types of human activities that could result in human exposure to soil contaminants. Soils are complex systems that exist at the interface among atmosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere, and lithosphere. A true soil includes gas, water, mineral, and organic components. Potential human contacts with soil can result in inhalation, ingestion, and dermal uptake of soil contaminants through both direct and indirect exposure pathways. The magnitude and persistence of exposure depends not only on the level of soil contamination, but also on the physical and chemical properties of soil, the chemical properties of the contaminant, and the frequency and duration of human activities such as occupational and recreational activities or use of home-grown food, which result in direct and indirect soil contacts. Toxicologists should be aware of the complex nature of soils, of the potential of soil contamination, and of types of direct and indirect contacts that human populations have with soil. 

Ogata, Y, Imai, E., Honda, H. et al. (2000). Hydrothermal circulation of sea water through hot vents and contribution of interface chemistry to prebiotic synthesis. Origins of Life and Evolution of Biospheres (formerly Origins of Life and Evolution of the Biosphere), 30, 527-37. 

The soil solution is the interface between soil and the other three active environmental compartments—atmosphere, biosphere, and hydrosphere (Fig. 1.1). The boundaries are dashed lines to indicate that matter and energy move actively from one compartment to another the environmental compartments are closely interactive rather than isolated. The interface between marine sediments and seawater, and between groundwater and subsoils, is chemically much the same as the interface between surface soils and the soil solution. Sediments remove and release ions from the bodies of water they contact by the same processes as the interface between the soil and the soil solution. 

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