Water and Biogeochemical Cycles

Transport in water is an important mechanism for transfer of biogeochemical elements between the atmosphere, land, and oceans. In particular, rain is the primary means of removal from the atmosphere for many substances, and rivers (and to some extent groundwater) convey weathering products and runoff from the land surface to the oceans. 

The following sections summarize only the most prominent interactions between the elemental cycles and the links in the hydrologic cycle. Water also plays a role in many chemical and biological reactions that are beyond the scope of this discussion. The carbon, nitrogen, sulfur, and phosphorus cycles are discussed in detail in Chapters 11, 12, 13, and 14, respectively. 

Rainwater and snowmelt water are primary factors determining the very nature of the terrestrial carbon cycle, with photosynthesis acting as the primary exchange mechanism from the atmosphere. Bicarbonate is the most prevalent ion in natural surface waters (rivers and lakes), which are extremely important in the carbon cycle, accoxmting for 90% of the carbon flux between the land surface and oceans (Holmen, Chapter 11). In addition, bicarbonate is a major component of soil water and a contributor to its natural acid-base balance. The carbonate equilibrium controls the pH of most natural waters, and high concentrations of bicarbonate provide a pH buffer in many systems. Other acid-base reactions (discussed in Chapter 16), particularly in the atmosphere, also influence pH (in both natural and polluted systems) but are generally less important than the carbonate system on a global basis. 

Unlike other biogeochemical elements, phosphorus does not have a significant atmospheric reservoir. Thus, while some amount of phosphorus is occasionally dissolved in rain, this does not represent an important link in the phosphorus cycle. River runoff is the primary means of transport between the land surface and oceans, and unlike the other elements discussed. 

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