Overview

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. Readers of this book will gain a comprehensive understanding of weathering as a reaction catalyzed by both plants and plankton, occurring not only on land but also ubiquitously in the earth’s environment, including the ocean’s interior. This new and novel perspective has significant implications for various scientific fields, including biology, marine chemistry, environmental, and paleoenvironmental sciences. The author underscores the immediate relevance of these findings to pressing issues surrounding atmospheric CO2. The book concludes with a proposal for an efficient and safe method to sequester CO2 in the atmosphere into the ocean interior, offering a practical solution to a global challenge. The target audience for this book includes students and researchers in ecology, evolutionary biology, geochemistry, environment and plant sciences, atmospheric sciences, and Geo-industries.

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9789819744251

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Tasuku Akagi is a geochemist. He studied chemistry at Tokyo University, where he continued his research in analytical chemistry, ocean chemistry, and geochemistry. He was an assistant researcher at Tokyo University and a professor at Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology and Kyushu University. He was the editor-in-chief of the geochemical journals issued by the Geochemical Society of Japan, and he is now a professor emeritus at Kyushu University. His research fields stretch from the deep mantle to cosmic space, from soft microplankton to hard diamonds. The author’s broad interests are reflected in this book. His primary interest lies in the relationship between organisms and the earth’s environment. He was awarded the Geochemical Society of Japan Award and the Oze Prize for his geochemical studies in the biosphere.

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