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The Biogeochemical Cycle of Silicon: Some Recent Developments

05/06/2008

IPGP - Campus Jussieu

16:00

Séminaires généraux de l’IPGP

Salle Bleue

Philippe VAN CAPPELLEN

Utrecht University

VANCAPPELLEN In addition to being one of the principal rock forming elements, silicon is an essential nutrient element for a wide variety of organisms. Thus, silicon is a prime example of a biogeochemical element, that is, an element whose cycling through the earth system is modulated by both geological and biological processes. In this presentation, I will review some of the recent developments in our understanding of the biogeochemical cycling of silicon, including the abiotic mechanisms that lead to the preservation of biogenic silica in marine sediments, the intense cycling of silicon on the continents, the coupling between the terrestrial and marine biological cycles of silicon, and the recent and future perturbation of the silicon cycle by human activity. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Séminaires géné1raux de l'Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris --------------------------------------------------------------------------------