Systems Chemistry biosphere

Phosphate minerals are found in rocks and living systems, and many biologically important molecules are phosphate esters (see Phosphorus Inorganic Chemistry). The balance between insoluble and soluble phosphates in the biosphere has been adversely affected by the use of phosphate fertilizers, water softeners and detergents. 

In chemistry, labelled compounds are used to elucidate reaction mechanisms and to investigate diffusion and transport processes. Other applications are the study of transport processes in the geosphere, the biosphere and in special ecological systems, and the investigation of corrosion processes and of transport processes in industrial plants, in pipes or in motors. 

This chapter reviews the possible evolution of oxidizing capacity over geologic time, the fundamental chemical reactions involved, and the influences of meteorology and human activity on atmospheric oxidation. The measurement of oxidation rates (i.e., oxidative capacity), and the complex interactive models of chemistry, transport, and human and other biospheric activities that are now being developed to help understand atmospheric oxidation as a key process in the Earth system are also discussed. 

Fig. 14.16. Nanoscaled systems of the biosphere and of chemistry show the same topology schematic representation of the icosahedron spanned by the 12 centres of the (Mo)IVIo5 units of the M0132 type cluster (a) and of the satellite tobacco necrosis virus (STNV) with the triangulation number F = 1...

Biogeochemistry is inherently a broad subject and clearly requires interdisciplinary approaches. Today, as the community regards the earth as a complex nonlinear system, studies of atmospheric chemistry and biogeochemistry cannot be dissociated from studies of the physical climate system. Interactions between the ocean, the continental biosphere, and the atmosphere are therefore central themes for the science of the 21st century. The challenges for the new Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry in Jena are particularly exciting. 

The chemistry of the climate system is more than simply air or atmospheric chemistry, but it is to a large extent atmospheric chemistry. The atmosphere is the only reservoir connecting all other reservoirs such as the biosphere (plants), hydrosphere (waters) and pedosphere (soils). As chemistry is the science of matter, we consider substances moving through the climate system. We have already mentioned that elementary chemical reactions are absolutely described by a mechanism and a kinetic law and, therefore, are applicable to all regimes in nature if the conditions (temperature, radiation, pressure, concentration) for this reaction correspond to those of the natural reservoir. For example, the photolytic decay of molecules is only possible in the presence of adequate radiation. Hence, in darkness there is no... 

In his book, Detlev Moller gives a thorough overview of the main chemical processes that occur in the atmosphere, only a few of which have been mentioned above. The novel title of this book chemistry of the climate system should direct the attention of the reader to the fact that understanding atmospheric chemistry is incomplete without considering interfacing neighboring reservoirs such as the hydrosphere, the lithosphere and the biosphere. 

---