Preface. Introduction. General Considerations: Bacterial Metabolism. Bioenergetics of Microbial Metabolism. Transport Mechanisms and Structure of Microbial Communities. Mineral Cycles: Hydrolysis of Organic Polymers. Comparison of Element Cycles. The Water Column: Prokaryotic Primary Producers.

Water Column Bacteria and Mineralisation. Biogeochemical Cycling in Soils: Soil Water as a Master Variable. Responses to Plant Organic Matter. Responses of Soil Biogeochemistry to Disturbance and Change. Aquatic Sediments: Comparison of Freshwater and Marine Sediments. The Carbon Cycle. The Nitrogen Cycle. The Phosphorus Cycle.

Manganese and Iron. Microbial Mats and Stratified Water Columns: Mats Based on Colourless Sulfur Bacteria. Cyanobacterial Mats. Other Types of Mats. Stratified Water Columns. Symbiotic Systems: The Role of Symbiosis in the Biosphere. Symbiotic Polymer Degradation. Symbiotic Nitrogen Fixation.

Autotrophic Bacteria as Symbionts. Biogeochemistry and Extreme Environments. Microbial Biogeochemical Cycling and the Atmosphere: The Atmosphere as an Elemental Reservoir. Atmospheric Structure and Evolution. Synopsis of Trace Gas Biogeochemistry and Linkages to Climate Change. Trace Gas Dynamics and Climate Change: An Analysis of Methane Production and Consumption. Summary and Conclusion. Origins and Evolution of Biogeochemical Cycles: Biogeochemical Cycles and Thermodynamics.

Pre-Biotic Earth and Mineral Cycles. Theoretical Perspectives on the Origin of Life. Evolution of Biogeochemical Cycles. Appendix: Thermodynamics and Calculation of Energy Yields of Metabolic Processes.