Street-Perrott, F. Alayne and Barker, Philip A. (2008) Biogenic
silica:a neglected component of the coupled global continental
biogeochemical cycles of carbon and silicon. Earth Surface
Processes and Landforms, 33 (9). pp. 1436-1457. ISSN
0197-9337Full text not available from this repository. On
geological time-scales (≥106 years), the global geochemical
cycles of carbon and silicon are coupled by the drawdown of
atmospheric CO2 through chemical weathering of Ca- and Mg-
silicate minerals in continental rocks. Rivers transport the
soluble products of weathering (cations, alkalinity and silicic
acid) to the oceans, where they are utilized by marine
ecosystems. On decadal to glacial–interglacial time-scales,
however, large biotic fluxes and storages of Si within
terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems need to be taken into
account. Recent studies have emphasized the importance of Si-
accumulating plants, which deposit significant amounts of
amorphous hydrated silica in their tissues as opal phytoliths.
These includ