Abstract
Silicon is one of the most important elements in the current age of the anthropocene. It has numerous industrial applications, and supports a high-tech multi-billion Euro industry. Silicon has a fascinating biological and geological cycle, interacting with other globally important biogeochemical cycles. In this review, we bring together both biological and geological aspects of the silicon cycle to provide a general, comprehensive review of the cycling of silicon in the environment. We hope this review will provide inspiration for researchers to study this fascinating element, as well as providing a background environmental context to those interested in silicon.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Explore related subjects
Discover the latest articles, news and stories from top researchers in related subjects.Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Wollast R, Mackenzie FT (1983) The global cycle of silica. In: Aston SR (ed) Silicon geochemistry and biochemistry. Academic Press, San Diego, pp 39–76
Meybeck M-H (1994) Origin and variable composition of present day riverborne material. In: Council NR (ed) Material fluxes on the surface of the earth. Studies in Geophysics. National Academy Press, Washington D.C., pp 61–73
Stumm W, Morgan JJ (1970) Aquatic chemistry: an introduction emphasizing chemical equilibria in natural waters. Wiley-Interscience, New York
Berner RA, Lasaga AC, Garrels RM (1983) The carbonate-silicate geochemical cycle and its effect on atmospheric carbon dioxide over the past 100 million years. Am J Sci 283:641–683
Hartmann J, Jansen N, Dürr HH, Harashima A, Okuba K, Kempe S (2009) Predicting riverine dissolved silica fluxes to coastal zones from a hyperactive region and analysis of first-order controls. Int J Earth Sci. doi:10.1007/s00531-008-0381-5
Knoll MA, James WC (1987) Effect of the advent and diversification of vascular land plants on mineral weathering through geologic time. Geology 15:1099–1102
Ragueneau O, Schultes S, Bidle K, Claquin P, Moriceau B (2006) Si and C interactions in the world ocean: importance of ecological processes and implications for the role of diatoms in the biological pump. Glob Biogeochem Cycles 20:GB4S02. doi:10.1029/2006GB002688
Conley DJ (2002) Terrestrial ecosystems and the global biogeochemical silica cycle. Glob Biogeochem Cycles 16:GB1121. doi:10.1029/2002GB001894
Struyf E, Conley DJ (2009) Silica: an essential nutrient in wetland biogeochemistry. Front Ecol Environ 7:88–94
Street-Perrott AF, Barker PA (2008) Biogenic silica: a neglected component of the coupled global continental biogeochemical cycles of carbon and silicon. Earth Surf Proc Land 33:1436–1457
Tréguer P, Pondaven P (2000) Silica control of carbon dioxide. Nature 406:358–359
Tréguer P, Nelson DM, van Bennekom AJ, DeMaster DJ, Leynaert A, Quéguiner B (1995) The silica balance in the world ocean: a reestimate. Science 268:375–379
Prentice IC, Farquhar GD, Fasham MJR, Goulden ML, Heimann M, Jaramillo VJ, Kheshgi HS, Le Quéré C, Scholes RJ, Wallace DWR (2001) The carbon cycle and atmospheric CO2. In: Houghton JT, Yihui D (eds) Climate change: the scientific basis. The contribution of WGI of the IPCC to the IPCC Third Assessment Report (TAR). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 183–237
Raven JA, Falkowski PG (1999) Oceanic sinks for atmospheric CO2. Plant Cell Environ 22:741–755
Rost B, Riebesell U (2004) Coccolithophores and the biological pump: responses to environmental changes. In: Thierstein HR, Young JR (eds) Coccolithophores: from molecular processes to global impact. Springer, Berlin, pp 99–125
Harrison KG (2000) Role of increased marine silica input on paleo-pCO2 levels. Paleoceanography 15:292–298
Cloern JE (2001) Our evolving conceptual model of the coastal eutrophication problem. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 210:223–253
Conley DJ, Schelske CL, Stoermer EF (1993) Modification of the biogeochemical cycle of silica with eutrophication. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 101:179–192
Seitzinger SP, Harrison JA, Dumont E, Beusen AHW, Bouwman AF (2005) Sources and delivery of carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus to the coastal zone: an overview of Global Nutrient Export from Watersheds (NEWS) models and their application. Glob Biogeochem Cycles 19:GB 4S01. doi:10.1029/2005GB002606
Officer CB, Ryther JH (1980) The possible importance of silicon in marine eutrophication. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 3:83–91
Smayda TJ (1997) Bloom dynamics: physiology, behavior, trophic effects. Limnol Oceanogr 42:1132–1136
Sullivan MJ, Moncreiff CA (1990) Edaphic algae are an important component of salt march food webs: evidence from multiple stable isotope analyses. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 62:149–159
Ryther JH (1969) Photosynthesis and fish production in the sea. The production of organic matter and its conversion to higher forms of life vary throughout the world ocean. Science 166:72–76
Doering PH, Oviatt CA, Beatty LL, Banzon VF, Rice R, Kelly SP, Sullivan BK, Frithsen JB (1989) Structure and function in a model coastal ecosystem: silicon, the benthos and eutrophication. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 52:287–299
Schelske CL, Stoermer EF, Conley DJ, Robbins JA, Glover R (1983) Early eutrophication in the lower Great Lakes: new evidence from biogenic silica in sediments. Science 222:320–322
Bates SS, de Freitas ASW, Milley JE, Pocklington R, Quilliam MA, Smith JC, Worms J (1991) Controls on domoic acid production by the diatom Nitzschia pungens f. multiseries in culture: nutrients and irradiance. Can J Fish Aquat Sci 48:1136–1144
Bienfang PK, Harrison PJ, Quarmby LM (1982) Sinking rates response to depletion of nitrate, phosphate and silicate in four marine diatoms. Mar Biol 67:295–302
Van Bennekom AJ, Salomons W (1981) Pathways of nutrients and organic matter from land to ocean through rivers. In: Martin J-M, Burton JD, Eisma D (eds) River inputs to ocean systems. United Nations, New York, pp 33–51
Humborg C, Ittekot V, Cociasu A, Von Bodungen B (1997) Effect of Danube River dam on Black Sea biogeochemistry and ecosystem structure. Nature 386:385–388
Sommer M, Kaczorek D, Kuzyakov Y, Breuer J (2006) Silicon pools and fluxes in soils and landscapes—a review. J Plant Nutr Soil Sci 169:310–329
Basile-Doelsch I, Meunier JD, Parron C (2005) Another continental pool in the terrestrial silicon cycle. Nature 433:399–402
Gérard F, Mayer KU, Hodson MJ, Ranger J (2008) Modelling the biogeochemical cycle of silicon in soils: application to a temperate forest ecosystem. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 72:741–758
Drees LR, Wilding LP, Smeck NE, Sankayi AL (1989) Silica in soils: quartz and disordered silica polymorphs. In: Dixon JB, Weed SB (eds) Minerals in soil environments. Soil Science Society of America Book Series, Madison, pp 913–974
Matichenkov VV, Snyder GH (1996) The mobile silicon compounds in some South Florida soils. Eurasian Soil Sci 12:1165–1180
Jones LHP, Handreck KA (1963) Effects of iron and aluminium oxides on silica in solutions of soils. Nature 198:852–853
Jones LHP, Handreck KA (1967) Silica in soils, plants and animals. Adv Agron 19:107–149
Bruun Hansen HC, Raben-Lange B, Raulund-Rasmussen K, Borggaard OK (1994) Monosilicate adsorption by ferrihydrite and goethite at pH 3–6. Soil Sci 158:40–46
Pokrovski GS, Schott J, Farges F, Hazemann J-L (2003) Iron(III)-silica interactions in aqueous solution: insights from X-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 67:3559–3573
Morris RC, Fletcher AB (1987) Increased solubility of quartz following ferrous-ferric iron reactions. Nature 330:558–561
Dove PM (1995) Kinetic and thermodynamic controls on silica reactivity in weathering environments. In: White AF, Brantley SL (eds) Chemical weathering rates of silicate minerals. Reviews in Mineralogy 31, Mineralogical Society of America, Washington D.C, USA, pp 235–290
Dietzel M (2000) Dissolution of silicates and the stability of polysilicic acid. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 64:3275–3281
Neal C, Neal M, Reynolds B, Maberly SC, May L, Ferrier RC, Smith J, Parker JE (2005) Silicon concentrations in UK surface waters. J Hydrol 304:75–93
Ma JF, Miyake Y, Takahashi E (2001) Silicon as a beneficial element for crop plants. In: Datnoff LE, Snyder GH, Korndörfer GH (eds) Silicon in agriculture. Studies in Plant Science 8, 17–39. Elsevier, Amsterdam
Ma JF, Tamai K, Yamaji N, Mitani N, Konishi S, Katsuhara M, Ishiguro M, Murata Y, Yano M (2006) A silicon transporter in rice. Nature 440:688–691
Sangster AG, Hodson MJ (1986) Silica in higher plants. In: Evered D, O’Connor M (eds) Silicon Biochemistry, 90–107. Ciba Foundation Symposium, John Wiley, Chichester, UK
Piperno DR (1988) Phytolith analysis: an archaeological and geological perspective. Academic Press, San Diego
Raven JA (1983) The transport and function of silicon in plants. Biol Rev 58:179–207
Epstein E (1999) Silicon. Annu Rev Plant Biol 50:641–664
Watteau F, Villemin G (2001) Ultrastructural study of the biogeochemical cycle of silicon in the soil and litter of a temperate forest. Eur J Soil Sci 52:385–396
Clarke J (2003) The occurrence and significance of biogenic opal in the regolith. Earth Sci Rev 60:175–194
Gol’eva AA (1999) The application of phytolith analysis for solving problems of soil genesis and evolution. Eurasian Soil Sci 32:884–891
Blecker SW, McCulley RL, Chadwick OA, Kelly EF (2006) Biologic cycling of silica across a grassland bioclimosequence. Glob Biogeochem Cycles 20:GB3023. doi:10.1029/2006GB002690
Fraysse F, Pokrovsky OS, Schott J, Meunier J-D (2006) Surface properties, solubility and dissolution kinetics of bamboo phytoliths. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 70:1939–1951
Loucaides S, Van Capellen P, Behrends T (2008) Dissolution of biogenic silica from land to ocean: role of salinity and pH. Limnol Oceanogr 53:1614–1621
Alexandre A, Meunier J-D, Colin F, Koud J-M (1997) Plant impact on the biogeochemical cycle of silicon and related weathering processes. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 61:677–682
Struyf E, Van Damme S, Gribsholt B, Bal K, Beauchard O, Middelburg JJ, Meire P (2007) Phragmites australis and silica cycling in tidal wetlands. Aquat Bot 87:134–140
Aoki Y, Hoshino M, Matsubara T (2007) Silica and testate amoebae in a soil under pine-oak forest. Geoderma 142:29–35
Paasche E (1980) Silicon content of 5 marine plankton diatom species measured with a rapid filter method. Limnol Oceanogr 25:474–480
Rabosky DL, Sorhannus U (2009) Diversity dynamics of marine planktonic diatoms across the Cenozoic. Nature 457:183–186
Drever JI (1994) The effect of land plants on weathering rates of silicate minerals. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 58:2325–2332
Hinsinger P, Barros ONF, Benedetti MF, Novack Y, Callot G (2001) Plant-induced weathering of a basaltic rock: experimental evidence. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 65:137–152
Kelly EF, Chadwick OA, Hilinski TE (1998) The effect of plants on mineral weathering. Biogeochemistry 42:21–53
Hilley GE, Porder S (2008) A framework for predicting global silicate weathering and CO2 drawdown rates over geologic time-scales. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 105:16855–16859
Conley DJ (1997) Riverine contribution of biogenic silica to the oceanic silica budget. Limnol Oceanogr 42:774–777
Derry LA, Kurtz AC, Ziegler K, Chadwick OA (2005) Biological control of terrestrial silica cycling and export fluxes to watersheds. Nature 433:728–731
Markewitz D, Richter DD (1998) The bio in aluminium and silicon biogeochemistry. Biogeochemistry 42:235–252
Pokrovsky OS, Schott J, Kudryavtzev DI, Dupré B (2005) Basalt weathering in Central Siberia under permafrost conditions. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 69:5659–5680
Bartoli F (1983) The biogeochemical cycle of silicon in two temperate forest ecosystems. Ecol Bull 35:469–476
Saccone L, Conley DJ, Likens GE, Bailey SW, Buso DC, Johnson CE (2008) Factors that control the range and variability of amorphous silica in soils in the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest. Soil Sci Soc Am J 72:1637–1644
Lucas Y, Luizao FJ, Chauvel A, Rouiller J, Nahon D (1993) The relation between biological activity of the rain forest and mineral composition of soils. Science 260:521–523
Meunier J-D, Colin F, Alarcon C (1999) Biogenic silica storage in soils. Geology 27:835–838
Farmer VC, Delbos E, Miller JD (2005) The role of phytolith formation and dissolution in controlling concentrations of silica in soil solutions and streams. Geoderma 127:71–79
Fulweiler RW, Nixon SW (2005) Terrestrial vegetation and the seasonal cycle of dissolved silica in the southern New England coastal river. Biogeochemistry 74:115–130
Wilding LP, Drees LR (1974) Contributions of forest opal and associated crystalline phases to fine silt and clay fractions of soils. Clay Miner 22:295–306
Meunier J-D (2003) Le rôle des plantes dans le transfert du silicium à la surface des continents. CR Geosci 335:1199–1206
McCarthy TS, McIver JR, Cairncross B, Ellery WN, Ellery K (1989) The inorganic geochemistry of peat from the Maunachira channel swamp system, Okavango Delta, Botswana. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 53:1077–1089
Carnelli AL, Madella M, Theurillat J-P (2001) Biogenic silica production in selected alpine plant species and plant communities. Ann Bot-London 87:425–434
Struyf E, Dausse A, Van Damme S, Bal K, Gribsholt B, Boschker HTS, Middelburg JJ, Meire P (2006) Tidal marshes and biogenic silica recycling at the land-sea interface. Limnol Oceanogr 51:838–846
Humborg C, Smedberg E, Blomqvist S, Mörth C-M, Brink J, Rahm L, Danielsson Å, Sahlberg J (2004) Nutrient variations in boreal, and subartic Swedish rivers: landscape control of land-sea fluxes. Limnol Oceanogr 49:1871–1883
Zakharova EA, Pokrovsky OS, Dupré B, Gaillardet J, Efimova LE (2007) Chemical weathering of silicate rocks in Karelia region and Kola peninsula, NW Russia: assessing the effect of rock composition, wetlands and vegetation. Chem Geol 242:255–277
Conley DJ, Likens GE, Buso DC, Saccone L, Bailey SW, Johnson CE (2008) Deforestation causes increased dissolved silicate losses in the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest. Glob Chang Biol 14:2548–2554
Raymond PA, Cole JJ (2003) Increase in the export of alkalinity from North America’s largest river. Science 301:88–91
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Struyf, E., Smis, A., Van Damme, S. et al. The Global Biogeochemical Silicon Cycle. Silicon 1, 207–213 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12633-010-9035-x
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12633-010-9035-x