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DESCRIPTIVE BASIS FOR A MODEL OF SOILS BIOGEOCHEMISTRY
Citation:
Lassiter, R. AND Y. Plis. DESCRIPTIVE BASIS FOR A MODEL OF SOILS BIOGEOCHEMISTRY. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, D.C., EPA/600/A-94/103 (NTIS PB94182250).
Description:
A model of biogeochemical processes for use in simulating greenhouse gas production and consumption is described. he model describes a vertically distributed soil column that is characterized physically by soil properties. ransport processes move soluble and gaseous components in the soil column, including loss of gaseous components at the soil-atmosphere interface. iogeochemical reactions are described beginning with hydrolysis of fresh, decomposable biopolymeric material to more resistant biopolymers and to monomers. oxidative processes remove monomers and produce by-products including greenhouse gases. hese processes include aerobic decomposition in aerobic zones and denitrification and germentation in anaerobic zones. enitrification produces nitrous oxide which is further reduced in part to dinitrogen. ermentation produces acetate, the substrate that is competitively used both for sulfate reduction and methano4enesis. nitial testing of the model for its general behavior indicates that this approach holds promise as a component of earth system models for simulating biogeochemical cycling.