Biogeochemistry

Name:
Biogeochemistry
Detailed information:
A branch of geochemistry dealing with the interactions between living organisms and their mineral environment. It includes, among other studies, the effect of plants on weathering of rocks, of the chemical transformations that produced petroleum and coal, of the concentration of specific elements in vegetation at some time in the geochemical cycle (iodine in sea plants, uranium in some forms of decaying organic matter), and of the organic constituents of fossils.