Environmental biogeochemistry, Chapter

In this chapter the North Atlantic region has been considered to as an example of the environmental biogeochemistry of nitrogen. Explain this selection. 

Grunwald, S., R. G. Rivero, and K. R. Reddy. 2007b. Understanding spatial variability and its application to biogeochemistry analysis. In D. Sarkar, R. Datta, and R. Hannigan (eds.) Environmental Biogeochemistry—Concepts and Case Studies. Elsevier, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, pp. 435-462 (chapter 20). 

The book focuses on the biogeochemistry of trace elements in arid and semiarid zone soils and includes an introductory chapter on the nature and properties of arid zone soils. It presents an updated overview and a comprehensive coverage of the major aspects of trace elements and heavy metals that are of most concern in the world s arid and semi-arid soils. These include the content and distribution of trace elements in arid soils, their solution chemistry, their solid-phase chemistry, selective sequential dissolution techniques for trace elements in arid soils, the bioavailability of trace elements, and the pollution and remediation of contaminated arid soils. A comprehensive and focused case study on transfer fluxes of trace elements in Israeli arid and semi-arid soils is presented. The book concludes with a discussion of a quantitative global perspective on anthropogenic interferences in the natural trace elements distributions. The elements discussed in this book include Cd, Cu, Cr, Ni, Pb, Zn, Hg, As, Se, Co, B, Mo and others. This book is an excellent reference for students and professionals in the environmental, ecological, agricultural and geological sciences. 

This chapter discussed the biogeochemistry of halogenated hydrocarbons in the environment with emphasis on environmental flux and reactivity, to develop a better understanding of the... 

The biogeochemistry of organic pollutants in marine systems is of enormous economic and environmental Impact. The environmental behavior of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB s) has been studied rather extensively because of their detrimental effects on human health and on living marine resources (30-32). As discussed in the chapters by J.W. Farrington et, due to recent advances in gas capillary chromotographic methods, it is now possible to study the biogeochemistry of individual PCB s rather than that of combined industrial mixtures of PCB s (33-36). In order to realistically assess the risks to animal health, it is important to be able to work with individual PCB levels rather than with unresolved mixtures because individual PCB s can vary greatly in terms of toxicity (37). 

In the atmosphere CO2 is affected by processes that operate at different time scales, including interaction with the silicate cycle (see Chapter 2), dissolution in the oceans, and annual cycles of photosynthesis and respiration (see also Section 3). The relative effect of these processes is described below in the consideration of the whole carbon biogeochemical cycle and environmental aspects of biogeochemistry. Here, it is important to note that carbon dioxide is not reactive with other atmospheric species its MRT is 3 years (Figure 4). This value is largely determined by exchange with seawater (see Section 2). 

There is good evidence that recent man-induced environmental and climate change is having a noticeable effect on the physical circulation and on the biogeochemistry of this most sensitive of ecosystems that will be discussed at the end of this chapter. 

Mercury and lead serve no known biological function, but both are useful metals and employed by mankind since ancient times. Both are also toxic environmental contaminants and thus of prime concern for several governmental agencies. AU this has led to intense research on the biogeochemistry of mercury and lead, including their speciation in the environment, their atmospheric transport, and the processes affecting their fate these topics and more are summarized in Chapters 9 and 10. 

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