Year: 2015
Type: article
Abstract: th century, leading to Geochemistry in the 19 th and to Biogeochemistry in the 20 th century [1]. While chemistry deals with the understanding of substances, the focus of geochemistry is the earth crust and the cycling of elements. It was the insight of modern times, that most reactions that drive geochemical cycles are regulated by organisms. The prefix “Bio” represents this fact. This new “twig” of the “tree” of science would have remained purely “academic”, if other “branches”, mainly Meteorology, would not have signaled early signs of global climate change. It was the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change that identified “Bio” including human actions as the most likely cause for observed changes in climate, and that made Biogeochemistry a prominent “branch” of science [2]. Biogeochemistry investigates the linkage between organisms and the global element cycles from ecosystem level up to the global surface where human actions emerge as main driver also of natural processes.
Source: MPG.PuRe (Max Planck Society)
Author: Ernst‐Detlef Schulze
Institutions: Max Planck Society, Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry
Language: English
Subfield: Global and Planetary Change
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W1030782783