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Current Development of V.I. Vernadsky’s Biogeochemical Ideas

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Abstract

The paper discusses the core ideas and the development of biogeochemistry as an integrated research avenue in geochemistry and biology created by V.I. Vernadsky. Much attention is paid to the key concepts of biogeochemistry: living matter, the biogenic migration of chemical elements, and the chemical elemental composition of organisms and its ecological significance. The development of the various functions of the biosphere is analyzed: ecological, concentrational, and informational. The differentiation of the chemical elemental composition of organisms is analyzed under conditions when the biosphere is impacted by anthropogenic activities (the development of industries). The role of biogeochemistry is demonstrated with reference to the development of biotechnologies and the elaboration of a biogeochemical indication of the ecological state of biospheric taxons. The progress in biogeochemistry and its current problems are briefly analyzed.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The author thanks the scientific editor Professor T.M. Minkina and reviewers for valuable comments provided when the manuscript was under preparation.

Funding

This study was carried out under government-financed research project for Vernadsky Institute of Geochemistry and Analytical Chemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences

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  1. Vernadsky Institute of Geochemistry and Analytical Chemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, 119991, Moscow, Russia

    V. V. Ermakov

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Translated by E. Kurdyukov

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Ermakov, V.V. Current Development of V.I. Vernadsky’s Biogeochemical Ideas. Geochem. Int. 61, 1001–1014 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1134/S001670292310004X

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