Ocean Biogeochemical Dynamics

"Ocean Biogeochemical Dynamics is an outstanding text for student and professional alike. The authors have developed an exceptionally lucid yet detailed discussion of the major biogeochemical cycles in the oceans, culminating in a quantitative examination of climate change and the contemporary carbon cycle. The book is a tour de force that should be incorporated into all marine chemistry and biogeochemistry courses."--Paul Falkowski, Rutgers University

"Global ocean research projects during the past two decades have resulted in explosive growth in our knowledge of ocean biogeochemistry. Sarmiento and Gruber's book crystallizes this knowledge into a systematic quantitative treatise. For many years to come, this observation--and equation-filled volume will serve as a window into the literature on many subjects, a textbook for our classes, and a reference book on our desks. Studied carefully, it could teach chemical, biological, and physical oceanographers to speak a common language."--Edward A. Boyle, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

"With this book, ocean biogeochemistry--the fascinating science behind the cycling of elements in the sea, and their transformation by biological, chemical, and physical properties--has finally found its theoretical underpinning. The two authors, both world experts, have succeeded in bringing together in a comprehensive and unified way the mass of information from the different scientific disciplines as well as the numerous observations obtained over the last few decades. This book will serve as the ultimate reference, both for students and the advanced research scientist, for many years to come."--Martin Heimann, Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry

"The Sarmiento and Gruber text is a very impressive achievement, providing a readable yet advanced treatise on ocean biogeochemistry and providing the best available summary of the advances of the last few decades. The emphasis on dynamics is highly relevant for studies of global change, while the emphasis on problem solving has yielded an invaluable teaching reference."--Ralph Keeling, Scripps Institution of Oceanography

Sarmiento and Gruber have cleverly found the middle ground between the "educated layman" approach so often typified in "soft sciences" and the stultifying rigor that cloaks the conceptual simplicity underlying many of the foundations of the field. They don't shy away from mathematical explanations but rather use them to make their points succinctly, and to clarify what is often a confused muddle in more basic texts."--W.J. Jenkins, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution