Perspectives on biogeochemistry
Author(s)
Bibliographic Information
Perspectives on biogeochemistry
Springer-Verlag, c1989
- gw
- us
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Note
Includes bibliographies
Includes index
Description and Table of Contents
Description
Perspectives on Biogeochemistry is an account of the origin of forces and matter at the dawn of time, and the way they evolved to planet Earth of today. Several fields of natural sciences are consulted to present a coherent view on the cycling of terrestrial elements and molecules, both organic and inorganic, in the course of time. Critical data are drawn together from astronomy, physics, chemistry, biology, and geology in order to provide some understanding of the complexity of the system Earth. In this book, E.T. Degens abstracts his knowledge of biogeochemical interactions acquired in more than thirty years of research and teaching. Students and anyone in the natural sciences wanting to familiarize themselves with phenomena prevailing at the periphery of their disciplines will profit by the very thorough and personal view of this pressing topic.
Table of Contents
The Cosmos at Large.- 1 Matter and Forces.- If I Have Seen Further.- Symmetry.- Tohu Va-Vohu.- Grand Unifications.- Beyond GUTs.- 2 Instant of Creation.- Steady-State Model.- Nothing to Speak of.- A Word on the Beginning of Time.- Cosmic Background Radiation.- Cosmic Inflation.- 3 Incidents During Expansion.- Que Sera Sera.- Nature of Dark Matter.- Origin of Elements.- Starry Heavens.- Age of the Universe.- 4 Our Solar System.- Denn die einen sind im Dunkeln.- Interstellar Gas and Dust.- Collapse of an Interstellar Cloud.- Above all Brother Sun.- Planets, Moons, Etceteras.- References.- Down to Earth.- 5 Fire.- Universal Elements.- Gravitational Forces.- Solar Energy.- Heat Flow.- Chemical Bonding.- 6 Coordination Principles.- Closest Packing of Spheres.- Packing of Ionic Structures.- Coordination Polyhedra.- Polyhedra Groupings in Minerals.- Rock-Forming Minerals.- 7 The Earth From Within.- Rocks.- The Formative Years.- Rifting.- Collision.- Crustal Evolution.- 8 From Land to Sea.- Boundary Phenomena.- Weathering and Erosion.- Sedimentation.- Facies.- Across the Sands of Time.- References.- Life-Supporting System.- 9 Air.- General Circulation of the Atmosphere.- Chemical Inventory.- CO2 and Other Greenhouse Gases.- Climatic Change.- On Planetary Atmospheres.- 10 Water.- Structure.- On Physical-Chemical Properties.- Interfacial Water.- Modern Ocean.- Origin and Evolution of Sea Water.- 11 Life.- The Essence.- Structure and Function.- Prolog on the Inanimate World.- Constructing the First Living Cell.- Hallelujah: Life is Born!.- 12 Biogeochemical Evolution.- Cycles and Events.- Ca2+ Cybernetics.- Eukaryogenesis - Cell Aggregation - Multicellularity.- Biomineralization.- Life is a Temporary Assignment.- Alas: Homo sapiens!.- References.
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