Biogeochemical cycles
Syllabus
The formation of Earth and comparisom with neighbour planets (Venus and Mars), The origin and evolution of metabolic pathways, Molecular (geochemical) biomarkers, Biological formation of minerals (biomineralization), Primary production, Degradation and preservation, Anaerobic metabolism and biogenic gases, Carbon cycling and global changes, Oxygen cycling, Nitrogen cycling, Sulphur cycling, Phosphorus cycling, Metals and radionuclides, Modelling of biogeochemical cycles, Human impact on biogeochemical cyclings.
Goals and competencies
In this course, students are informed about factors and processes, including anthropogenic, controlling the biogeochemical cycling of elements in hydrosphere, lithosphere, atmosphere and hydrosphere. Importnat aspects are devoted to biogeochemical evolution of Earth in comparison to neighbour planets, study of present and past biogeochemical fluxes, chemical, biological and geological reactions and processes that govern the distribution, speciation and fluxes of elements in the main reservoirs (spheres) and between them, the role of speciation of elements in their mobility and impact on biological systems as well as the human role and global changes.
Basic literature
W.H. Schlesinger, E.S. Bernhardt, 2013. Biogeochemistry: An analysis of global change, Academic, San Diego, 688 pp. (ISBN 9780123858740)
W.H. Schlesinger, 2004. Biogeochemistry, Treatise on geochemistry, vol. 8, Elsevier, Amsterdam, 720 pp. (ISBN 0080446426)
A.H. Knoll, D.E. Canfield, K.O. Konhauser, 2012. Fundamentals of geobiology, Wiley-Blackwell, Oxford, 443 pp. (ISBN 978-1-4051-8752-7)
Revije/Journals
Biogeochemistry, Springer, ISSN 0168-2563
Global Biogeochemical Cycles, AGU, ISSN 0886-6236
Biogeosciences, Copernicus
JGR Biogeosciences, AGU, ISSN 2169-8961
Geomicrobiology Journal, Taylor&Francis, ISSN 0149-0451
Organic Geochemistry, Elsevier, ISSN 0146-6380
Elements, MSA
T. Malone, A. Malej, J. Faganeli (eds.), 2021. Coastal ecosystems in transition: A comparative analysis of the northern Adriatic and Chesapeake Bay, Geophysical monographs 256, AGU-Wiley