The Biological Chemistry of The Elements

This book introduces the concept of 'biological weathering.' Weathering, especially chemical weathering, has been recognized as one of the most important processes on Earth because it influences the circulation of elements, including carbon. Weathering has almost always been considered an abiotic process. The book describes the author’s experiments, proving that plant involvement in weathering is a strategy for plants to ingest nutrients from rocks. It is also shown through cultivation experiments and observation of natural diatoms that diatoms and silica obligate plankton dissolve silicate minerals and incorporate silicon and other elements into their frustules. The weathering reaction has also been successfully applied to the previously unexplained relationship between carbon and silica in the ocean’s interior.

As one of many tasks of an analytical chemistry program sponsored by the office of Pesticides and Toxic Substances