HUMAN BIOGEOCHEMISTRY

We will consider the natural biogeochemical provinces (see Chapter 6), new-formed biogeochemical provinces owed to anthropogenic influence and the migration of elements in food wehs for various multi-scale regions of the Worlds. 

---

During last decades the researches in human biogeochemistry were concerned with the cancer development in various regions of the World. It has been shown that most human cancer diseases are related to the environmental conditions such as the content of various macro- and microelements in biogeochemical food webs. 

Present a definition of human biogeochemistry. Give a historical review of development of research in this field. 

Discuss the connection between biogeochemical mapping and human biogeochemistry. Stress the attention on the key questions related to organization of the food web. 

Bocherens, H., Fizet, M., Mariotti, A., Lange-Badre, B., Vandermeersch, B., Borel, J.P and Bellon, G. 1991a Isotopic biogeochemistry ( C, N) of fossil vertebrate collagen implications for the study of fossil food web including Neandertal Man. Journal of Human Evolution 20 481 92. 

Keywords Biogeochemistry, Ebro River watershed, Human settlements, Land use, Nutrient content, Physiography... 

This chapter describes the main physical characteristics of the Ebro River, including the watershed orography, the biogeography and vegetation, the climatic and hydrological characteristics, and the soil type and biogeochemistry of river Ebro waters. The Ebro watershed has historically served as nucleus and connection for humans human settlements are known since pre-historic years and nowadays the river water chemistry cannot be understood without the anthropogenic effects. Therefore, the potential effects of human activities at the Ebro watershed are analyzed. 

Vasylyeva T.L., Duka Y.D., Ogorodny V.V., Kharitonov N., 1997. Relation between Trace Elements Concentration in Soils and the Health of Humans in Ukraine. Fourth International Conference on the Biogeochemistry of Trace Elements, pp.51-52. 

During the last decades researches in human health risk and biogeochemistry were... 

Measurement of trace metal concentrations can provide fundamental insights into marine geochemical processes. Many metals are important micronutrients in seawater and can play a significant role in upper ocean biogeochemistry and carbon cycling. Under certain conditions, elevated concentrations of metals associated with human activities can have negative impacts on marine ecosystems. 

Part 1, Alpine Water Resources, examines the hydrological basics, the impacts of climate change in the Swiss Alps, and human interventions in mountain waters. Part 11, Biogeochemistry and Pollution of Alpine Waters, deals with the chemistry of mountain rivers, the effects of acid deposition on high elevation lakes, the glaciers as archives of atmospheric deposition, and the occurrence of persistent organic contaminants. 

Harvey, C.F., Swartz, C.H., Badruzzaman, A.B.M. et al. (2005) Groundwater arsenic contamination on the Ganges delta biogeochemistry, hydrology, human perturbations, and human suffering on a large scale. Comptes Rendus Geoscience, 337(1-2), 285-96. 

Vegetation has been classified into a number of reaction types (Ernst, 1993). Within the group of plants that react to their environment (reactors), those with visible (or overt) reactions can be distinguished from those with non-visible (or covert) reactions. In the case of geobotany as defined by Ernst (1993), visibility means to the unaided human eye, that is colour, morphology, presence, abundance or absence of species. Cole has pointed out (Cole and Smith, 1984) that is was not until about 1945, when rapid routine methods of analysis for large numbers of samples became available, that biogeochemistry, that is the study of the chemical composition of plants from various habitats, was used for mineral exploration in many parts of the world. 

---