Nitrogen in the Biogeochemistry of the Atmosphere

THE molecular nitrogen of the atmosphere is normally consideredby biologists as a very inert substance; it is, however, probable, asVernadsky (1934) has so strongly insisted, that the geochemistry ofno other element is so intimately bound up with living matter. Thefollowing summary attempts a rough quantitative estimate of the rateat which the element goes through certain phases of its cyclical geochemicalmigration, and is mainly concerned with the problem of thepassage of molecular nitrogen into and out of the atmosphere. Thereader desirous of a treatment of the transformation of nitrogen compoundsin the biosphere, more elaborate and more satisfying than thatfamiliar in elementary textbooks, is referred to Cooper's (1937) admirable article on the nitrogen cycle in the sea.

Publisher - Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Society

Subjects - Chemical, Nitrogen

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Citation: Hutchinson GE. 1944. Nitrogen in the Biogeochemistry of the Atmosphere. Am. Scientist; 32(3):178-195 http://www.jstor.org/stable/29773619