The Major Biogeochemical Cycles

In a departure from the first edition we include here a brief account of selected non-metals and their multiple and various activities in biological systems. We pointed out in Chapter 1 that organic chemistry is the chemistry of hydrocarbons, but that if we restricted ourselves to just hydrogen and carbon, it would be impossible to construct the molecules we know to be essential for life as we know it. To construct proteins, nucleic acids, carbohydrates, and lipids, we also need oxygen, nitrogen, phosphorus, and sulfur. Indeed, we also require, as we saw in Chapter 1, a number of other elements, notably a not-inconsiderable number of metals. 

Diagenesis — the physical and chemical changes occurring in sediment during its deposition and after its compression and transformation into rock. 

Biological Inorganic Chemistry, 2nd Edition. DOI 10.1016/B978-0-444-53782-9.00018-8. Copyright 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. 

FIGURE 18.1 The water cycle. (Courtesy of the U.S. Geological Survey.) 

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Cnitzen, P. J. In The Major Biogeochemical Cycles and Their Interactions, Bolin, B. Cook, R. B., Eds. SCOPE 21 John Wiley Sons New York, NY, 1983 pp 67-111. 

Just as in the case for the hydrosphere, the atmosphere participates in all of the major biogeochemical cycles (except for phosphorus). In turn, the chemical composition of the atmosphere dictates its physical and optical properties, the latter being of great importance for the heat balance of Earth and its climate. Both major constituents (O2, H2O) and minor ones (CO2, sulfur, nitrogen, and other carbon compounds) are involved in mediating the amounts and characteristics of both incoming solar and outgoing infrared radiation. 

Fig. 7-11 Compilation of the most important photochemical processes in the atmosphere, including estimates of flux rates expressed in moles per year between the earth s surface and the atmosphere and within the atmosphere. (Modified with permission from P. J. Crutzen, Atmospheric interactions - homogeneous gas reactions of C, N, and S containing compounds. In B. Bolin and R. Cook (1983). "The Major Biogeochemical Cycles and Their Interactions," pp. 67-112, John Wiley, Chichester.)...

Bolin, B. and Cook, R. (eds.) (1983). The Major Biogeochemical Cycles and Their Interactions," SCOPE 21. Wiley, New York. 

Likens, G. E. (ed.) (1981). "Some Perspectives of the Major Biogeochemical Cycles." Wiley, New York. 

Heterogeneous interactions of the C, N, and S Cycles in the atmosphere The role of aerosols and clouds. In "The Major Biogeochemical Cycles and their Interactions" (B. Bolin and R. B. Cook, eds). John Wiley and Sons, Chichester. 

Wollast R. (1983) Interactions in estuaries and coastal waters. In The Major Biogeochemical Cycles and Their Interactions (eds. B. Bolin and R.E. Cook), pp. 385-410. J. Wiley and Sons, New York. 

The Major Biogeochemical Cycles and their Interactions, Bolin B. and Cook R.B., Ed., SCOPE 21, Wiley 1983. 

Provide a simple explanation for the reason why the major biogeochemical cycles are intimately interconnected. 

Bolin B., RosswallT., RicheyJ.E., FreneyJ.R., IvanovM.V, Rodhe H. (1983) C, N, P, and S cycles major reservoirs and fluxes. In The Major Biogeochemical Cycles and their Interactions (ed. Bolin B., Cook R.B.) SCOPE Rep. No. 21, 41-65. Chichester Wiley. 

Crutzen PJ. 1983. Atmospheric interactions—homogeneous gas reactions of C, N, and S containing compounds. In Bolin B, Cook RB, eds. The major biogeochemical cycles and their interactions. Chichester John Wiley Sons, 67-113. 

RosswallT. 1981. The biogeochemical nitrogen cycle. In Likens GE,ed. Some perspectives of the major biogeochemical cycles. New York, NY John Wiley and Sons, 25-49. 

Melillo, J. M., C. B. Field, and B. Moldan. 2003. Interaction of the Major Biogeochemical Cycles. SCOPE 61. Island Press, Washington, DC. 357 pp. 

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