From Wikipedia,
the free encyclopedia.
The field of biogeochemistry
involves
scientific study of the
chemical,
physical,
geological, and
biological processes and
reactions that govern the
composition of the natural
environment (including the
biosphere, the
hydrosphere, the
pedosphere, the
atmosphere, and the
lithosphere), and the cycles
of matter and energy that
transport the Earth's chemical
components in time and space.
Biogeochemistry is a
systems science.
Biogeochemistry research
There are biogeochemistry
research groups in many
universities around the world.
Since this is a highly
inter-disciplinary field, these
are situated within a wide range
of host disciplines, such as
earth sciences,
environmental sciences,
environmental chemistry,
agricultural science,
soil science and
oceanography.
Many researchers investigate
the
biogeochemical_cycles of
carbon,
oxygen,
nitrogen,
sulfur, and
phosphorus, as well as their
stable
isotopes. The cycles of trace
elements such as the
trace metals and the
radionuclides are also
studied.
Some important research fields
for biogeochemistry include:
Father of biogeochemistry
Vladimir Vernadsky, a
Russian
scientist in the tradition of
Mendeleev, is credited with
founding the science of
biogeochemistry.
Vernadsky distinguished three
spheres in the
universe domain, where a
sphere is a concept similar to the
Riemman concept of a space-phase.
He observed that each sphere has
its own laws of
evolution, and that the higher
spheres modify and dominate the
lowers.
The three spheres are:
- 1. Abiotic sphere - all the
non-living energy and material
processes.
- 2. Biosphere - the life
processes that live within the
abiotic sphere.
- 3. Nöesis o Nösphere - the
sphere of the cognitive process
of man. Man modifies the
Biosphere and Abiotic sphere.
The amount of influence man has
on the other 2 spheres is
comparable to a geological
force.
Early development of
biogeochemistry
The American limnologist and
geochemist
G. Evelyn Hutchinson is
credited with outlining the broad
scope and principles of this new
field. More recently, the basic
elements of the discipline of
biogeochemistry were restated and
popularized by the British
engineer and science writer,
James Lovelock, under the
label of the
Gaia Hypothesis. Lovelock
emphasizes a concept that life
processes regulate the Earth
through feedback mechanisms to
keep it habitable.
See also
Example research institutes
