Reservoir Models and Cycles Some Definitions

The following definitions are applicable to studies of biogeochemical cycles. 

Reservoir (box, compartment). An amount of material defined by certain physical, chemical, or biological characteristics that, under the particular consideration, can be considered as reasonably homogeneous. For example  

In situations where the reservoir is defined by its physical boundaries, it is not uncommon to refer to its content of the specific element as its burden. We will denote the content of the reservoir by M. The dimension of M would normally be mass, although it could also be, for example, moles. 

The amount of material transferred from one reservoir to another per unit time, in general denoted by F (mass per time). For example  

In more specific studies of transport processes, the flux is normally defined as the amount of material transferred per unit area per unit time. To distinguish between these two conflicting usages, we shall refer to the latter as flux density . 

The models used to study biogeochemical cycles are described by a set of terms whose definitions must be clearly understood at the outset. We define them here as they are used throughout the book. 

Reservoir (box, compartment). An amount of material defined by certain physical, chemical 

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