Biogeochemical cycles

The critical zone of the Earth is where gases from the atmosphere react with the lithosphere by the action of the water cycle. Acide-base, redox and biological reactions occur that transform the surface of the planet into a thin, but habitable, layer. The critical zone can be seen as the place where the biogeochemical cycles  (i.e carbon, nitrogen, metals). This course intents to show how the biogeochemical’s grammar is formulated, the vocabulary associated and describe the timescales of global biogeochemical cycles (from days to millions years).

Know how the habitable layer of the planet is formed and maintained.
The basics of how to build a biogeochemical cycle
The use of isotopes and molecular speciation techniques

notions de géochimie, de chimie des eaux et des surfaces, thermochimie, notions de géodynamique des enveloppes superficielles de la Terre.