Biogeochemistry

 

Human activities have a profound influence on element cycles (e.g., C, N, S, Hg) on regional to global scales. They also lead to emissions of numerous toxic compounds, some of which do not occur naturally, including certain organic chemicals and engineered nanoparticles. These anthropogenic influences on element cycles have important implications for the environment: Climate change, eutrophication, contamination of soils and aquatic systems, and others. The behavior of substances in the environment (e.g., their mobility, degradation, sorption, bioavailability) is controlled by a complex interplay between physical, chemical, and (micro)biological processes.

The core lectures within this special subject deal primarily with important biogeochemical processes and cycles. Illustrated by specific examples, the lectures discuss how these processes control the behavior of various substances in the environment. The coupling between chemical, microbiological, and physical processes needs to be considered when element cycles on regional or global scales are discussed or modelled. In the Seminar Biogeochemistry, articles from the recent scientific literature are presented and critically discussed by the students. In the Praktikum Biogeochemistry, the students apply important analytical laboratory and field methods, which are used to detect substances in the environment and quantify their fluxes and cycles.