Sources of the biosphere

The life of man and the whole of human society depends on the sources of the biosphere needed for the satisfaction of his needs. These sources include the essential components of the biosphere, such as water, air, soil, plants, animals, raw materials and solar radiation. In detail they can be classified as follows  

The inexhaustible sources of the biosphere cannot be exhausted by man even when they are continuously used, however, they can be damaged and deteriorated waters, air and soil which are the subject of this book are such sources. The exhaustible sources of the biosphere can be used up or permanently deteriorated by man. 

Apart from the atmosphere, the biosphere sources vary in their extent and nature in individual countries and each country can employ them with sovereignty within its boundaries. However, there are factors affecting sources which are of international importance (e.g. the purity of rivers flowing through several countries), or of worldwide global importance (e.g. the purity of the water in oceans, and the purity of air). 

The rapid increase in the population of the Earth and the many-sided economic activity of current human society cause significant quantitative and qualitative changes in the biogeochemical cycles of the elements in the biosphere. These threaten the very functions of the biosphere and the vital conditions for the activity and existence of man himself. The scope of the 

The most important interferences with the components of the biosphere are the changes of the chemical composition of air, particularly reduction of oxygen and increase in the amount of carbon dioxide and air pollution with solid materials which result in changes in the quantity of solar radiation falling on the earth s surface, thermal pollution of the atmosphere, changes in the water cycle in nature, and pollution of the hydrosphere and soil, etc. 

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Water as one of the basic sources of the biosphere has a number of functions concerned with human society, such as transformation of energy potential and transport. The properties of a particular sample of water reflect its environmental chemistry, including anthropogenic changes [14-19). 

Release data of chromium from anthropogenic sources to the biosphere... 

Fluorine is ubiquitous in the nature and is consequently an inevitable part of the biosphere and human life. The adequate intake (Al) of fluoride ion from all sources is set at... 

The oceans cover more than 70% of the earth s surface, which represents over 95% of the biosphere. The oceans are therefore an unexplored area of opportunity for the discovery of pharmacologically active compounds. Although it has been one of man s principal sources of food for thousands of years, the sea was not considered as a supply of biologically active substances until forty years ago. In the last two decades, the search for marine-derived natural products has been extended to all oceans of the world. The enormous potential of the sea as a source of energy, food and chemicals has led to its being the subject of intense research. The results of this search had been reported in numerous reviews [1-8]... 

In general, for different reasons, biomass burning is a complex anthropogenic source of the atmospheric pollution and of the global impact on the biosphere as a whole. Estimates obtained by many authors show that the radiative forcing on climate determined by aerosols from biomass burning constitute about -l.OWm"2... 

As a result, a physicochemical model for the formation of the BIF is proposed which is consistent with modern ideas on the evolution of sedimentation and volcanism and of the atmosphere, hydrosphere, and biosphere in the Precambrian. This model, which proposes a mainly volcanic source for the iron and silica and a biochemical and chemical mechanism of deposition, is the most likely but not the only possible one. Other versions, or different interpretations, are not ruled out, but it is perfectly obvious that in any genetic postulates, the specific physicochemical data must be taken into account. It is also quite understandable that in a work which is a first attempt at physicochemical analysis of the entire geological cycle— source of the material transport deposition diagenesis metamorphism—not all the problems have been worked out in sufficient detail and not all the evidence is conclusive far from it. Further investigations in this direction are needed, including not only determination of the role of the individual parameters in ore formation, but also direct experimental modeling of the process. 

The biosphere is a major contributor to the atmosphere of heavier hydrocarbons. Fritz Went (8, 9), who first recognized the global extent of smog, pointed out the general importance of natural emissions from vegetation. He estimated that sources in the biosphere annually emit between 170 X 10 and 10 tons of hydrocarbon material to the atmosphere. Went also observed that these materials are mainly in the terpene class and that, because they are photochemically reactive, these materials are polymerized in atmospheric photochemical reactions to form an organic aerosol. He attributes the blue haze found in many forested areas to the optical effects of this aerosol. 

Compare the historical and modern data of the global sulfur biogeochemical cycle. Explain the relevant importance of natural and anthropogenic sources and sinks of this element in various compartments of the biosphere. 

Sources of boron (B) input into the biosphere are volcanic eruptions, weathering of geological rocks, marine salts, borates, and marine waters with relatively high content of this trace element. As a result of biogeochemical activity boron is redistributed in various compounds of the biosphere, like biogeochemical food webs rock —> soil plant -> animal -> human. 

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