Сергей (sergei) Остроумов (ostroumov) » Публикация

Аннотация BIOSPHERE: BIOMEMBRANE OR BIOMATRIX? http://scipeople.com/publication/99402/; S.A.Ostroumov Faculty of Biology, Moscow State University, Moscow Epigraph: …whilst the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me. Isaac Newton (1642-1727) Key words: biosphere, V.I. Vernadsky, fundamental concepts and principles, migration of elements, immobilization, living matter, biogenic matter, components of the biosphere, chemico-biotic interactions The fundamental concept of the biosphere was a central focus of attention of the classical works by V.I. Vernadsky [1, 2 ]. Many authors contributed to the studies of the biosphere [3- 12]. The goal of this publication is to comment on some basic fundamental concepts and principles that are relevant to modern understanding of what is the biosphere. Traditionally, the biosphere is considered as one of “spheres’ around the globe. Some time ago, a number of scientific terms were coined: lithosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere, and biosphere. Among them, the entity that corresponds to the concept and term ‘biosphere’ features some unique qualities: (1) The biosphere is probably the thinnest among all other ‘spheres’ except perhaps the hydrosphere. As a result, the biosphere could be considered as a thin skin or film or membrane that surrounds the hard surface of the globe. (2) The biosphere is probably the most vague entity among the other ‘spheres’ in terms of where its limits or boundaries are. There are various views on that what exactly is included into the biosphere, what exactly should be considered as components (parts, constituents) of the biosphere. In the narrow sense (sensu stricto), it includes living organisms. In the broader sense (sensu lato), it includes both living organisms and the matter that was produced or transformed by living organisms. In that latter case – if that latter broader approach is applied – the biosphere includes all types of detritus, excretions, and all type of former living matter. In latter case, in aquatic ecosystems a significant part of bottom sediments is definitely a part of the biosphere. All organic matter of the bottom sediments and soils should be considered a part of the biosphere. Our recent studies provided new facts on the high ability of living organisms and the matter produced by them (e.g., detritus) to accumulate, absorb, and immobilize some chemical elements that initially were added to the system in the form of salts dissolved in water. To be more specific, it was shown in our experiments with aquatic microcosms. Several metals as a water solution of salts were added to the water of those microcosms [13, 14, 16, 18, 19]. Continuation - see in the attached file.