EU objective
Address in an interdisciplinary manner (geochemistry, hydrology, mineralogy, and biology) the processes governing the migration of chemical elements in the most superficial layers of a soil. The objective is to understand and quantify the relationships/interactions of all the compartments constituting the soil (water, minerals, plants and associated microorganisms), and the resulting transfer balances.
Content of the lessons
In addition to the purely chemical processes (alteration and reactive transport of dissolved elements) already covered elsewhere during the master's training, emphasis will be placed more particularly on the problem of water migration in an unsaturated environment and on the the impact of vegetation and the biosphere on the migration of these chemical elements, including plant-atmosphere and plant-soil transfers (root removal - decomposition of litter - excretion), the effects of biological activity on weathering minerals and the sequestration time of elements in vegetation. Finally, the integration of the whole will be carried out by a digital simulation model. This course will be applied to the study of a forest ecosystem.
