Weathering Rates and Major Transport Processes an Introduction

Abstract

A global biogeochemical cycle is a conceptual model of the pathways and flows of individual chemical elements or their compounds in the surface environment of the Earth. The flows of materials on the Earth’s surface are driven by processes of diverse nature, such as: the major physical and tectonic forces that control the shapes and elevation of the continental plates; the major climatic processes that are responsible for the global water flows and temperature distribution over the Earth’s surface; the chemical and microbiological processes that result in dissolution of some crustal rock minerals and formation of other sedimentary minerals; the transport of the continental crustal materials by wind, rivers and ground-waters, and their ultimate delivery to the oceans.