Biogeochemistry of the Critical Zone (1st ed. 2022) (Advances in Critical Zone Science)

Synopsis

This book highlights recent advances in the discipline of biogeochemistry that have directly resulted from the development of critical zone (CZ) science. The earth's critical zone (CZ) is defined from the weathering front and lowest extent of freely circulating groundwater up through the regolith and to the top of the vegetative canopy. The structure and function of the CZ is shaped through tectonic, lithologic, hydrologic, climatic, and biological processes and is the result of processes occurring at multiple time scales from eons to seconds. The CZ is an open system in which energy and matter are both transported and transformed. Critical zone science provides a novel and unifying framework to consider those coupled interactions that control biogeochemical cycles and fluxes of energy and matter that are critical to sustaining a habitable planet. Biogeochemical processes are at the heart of energy and matter fluxes through ecosystems and watersheds. They control the quantity and quality of carbon and nutrients available for living organisms, control the retention and export of nutrients affecting water quality and soil fertility, and influence the ability for ecosystems to sequester carbon. As the term implies, biogeochemical cycles, and the rates at which they occur, result from the interaction of biological, chemical, and physical processes. However, finding a unifying framework by which to study these interactions is challenging, and the different components of bio-geo-chemistry are often studied in isolation. The authors provide both reviews and original research contributions with the requirement that the chapters incorporate a CZ framework to test biogeochemical theory and/or develop new and robust predictive models regarding elemental cycles. The book demonstrates how the CZ framework provides novel insights into biogeochemistry.

Copyright:

2022

Book Details

Book Quality:

Publisher Quality

ISBN-13:

9783030959210

Related ISBNs:

9783030959203

Publisher:

Springer International Publishing

Date of Addition:

06/17/22

Copyrighted By:

Springer Nature Switzerland AG

Adult content:

No

Language:

English

Has Image Descriptions:

No

Categories:

Nonfiction, Outdoors and Nature, Earth Sciences

Submitted By:

Bookshare Staff

Usage Restrictions:

This is a copyrighted book.

Edited by:

Adam S. Wymore

Edited by:

Wendy H. Yang

Edited by:

Whendee L. Silver

Edited by:

William H. McDowell

Edited by:

Jon Chorover