biogeokemian

Biogeokemian is an interdisciplinary scientific field that studies the chemical processes and cycles that organize the Earth's surface and its living systems. It emphasizes the interactions among organisms, soils and sediments, water bodies, and the atmosphere, and how these interactions control the availability of nutrients, the speciation of elements, and the fluxes of energy and matter through ecosystems.

Core topics include the biogeochemical cycles of carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, and sulfur; soil chemistry; aquatic chemistry in rivers, lakes, and oceans; mineral weathering and diagenesis; trace elements; and isotope geochemistry.

Methods: field measurements, laboratory experiments, advanced analytical techniques such as isotope ratio mass spectrometry, mass spectrometry, chromatography, spectroscopy; and computational models.

History: rooted in geochemistry and ecology, the field gained prominence in the 20th century; Vladimir Vernadsky is frequently cited as a foundational figure for the concept of the biosphere as a regulator of planetary chemistry.

Applications: helps explain nutrient limitation and soil fertility, pollutant fate and transport, climate feedbacks via carbon cycling, and ecosystem services. It informs environmental policy and resource management.

Relationship and scope: overlaps with geology, ecology, soil science, environmental science, and hydrology; often conducted in universities and research institutes under atmospheric, earth, and life science programs.