Please be aware of our session at the forthcoming EGU General Assembly (17-22 April, Vienna, Austria). Abstracts can be submitted here http://meetingorganizer.copernicus.org/EGU2016/session/21891until 13 January!

“Interdisciplinary Session on the Global Phosphorus Cycle”

Phosphorus (P) is an essential element for life on Earth and is tightly cycled within the biosphere. Throughout geological history, P availability has regulated biological productivity with impacts on the global carbon cycle. Today, human action is significantly changing the natural cycling of P. Phosphate mining has depleted geological P reserves, while increased inputs of P to terrestrial ecosystems have enhanced fluxes of P to lakes and the oceans. On land, the soil system is a biogeochemical fulcrum, responding to the perturbed P cycle and ultimately determining the magnitude and timing of inorganic and organic P fluxes between terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. In aquatic environments, P inputs determine the trophic state of the ecosystem, while burial in sediments returns P to the geological sink, eventually forming economically viable P deposits. Throughout the P cycle, redox conditions play a key role in transformations and mobility of P.

This interdisciplinary session invites contributions to the study of P from across the geosciences, and aims to foster links between researchers working on different aspects of the P cycle. We target a balanced session giving equal weight across the continuum of environments in the P cycle, from geological deposits, through soils and groundwater, lakes, rivers and estuaries, to oceans and marine sediments. We welcome studies of both past and present P cycling, with a focus on novel techniques and approaches.

Keynote: Ben Turner, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Panama: “Soil phosphorus and the ecology of tropical forests”

Kind regards from the conveners,

Tom Jilbert, Ben Surridge, Federica Tamburini, Phil Haygarth, Christian März, Daniel Blackburn, Tobias Goldhammer, Caroline Slomp