Living matter

The living matter of the biosphere includes both organic (chemical) and inorganic (mineral) components.

More than 90%, formed mainly by oxygen, carbon, hydrogen and nitrogen, make up terrestrial vegetation. According to experts, living matter is one of the most "powerful" terrestrial geochemical forces. It develops at the intersection of the hydrosphere, lithosphere and atmosphere. Under adverse conditions, life processes stop or slow down to the point where there are no visible manifestations of life. Thus, the state of suspended animation develops.

Living matter has its own specific features.

First of all, it is characterized by a huge amount of free energy. In the conditions of the inorganic world, the living matter (by volume of energy) can be equated with short-lived lava flows that have not yet had time to freeze.

One of the main features is the rate of chemical reactions. They are in living matter, in contrast to inanimate, flowing thousands of times faster.

A distinctive feature is the composition. Living matter includes independent compounds (enzymes, proteins and others). These chemical compounds show resistance only under favorable conditions. To a large extent this feature is also characteristic of mineral components.

The living substance commits arbitrary movement. VI Vernadsky, believing that this movement is largely self-regulating, distinguished two of its special forms. Passive is formed through reproduction and is inherent in plants and animals. Directional movement of organisms (characteristic for animals, rather than for plants) creates an active form of movement. The living substance is also distinguished by the desire to fill the whole space.

A characteristic feature is also the great chemical and morphological diversity. Living matter, unlike inanimate, can not be just a liquid or gaseous medium.

In nature, there are dispersed bodies - individual organisms. They make up living matter. Moreover, it is not on the planet in one morphologically pure form - in the form of populations of organisms that represent one species - it always represents biocenoses.

The continuity of the alternation of generations ensures the genetic connection of modern living matter with what existed in past eras. The characteristic feature is the evolutionary process. In other words, reproduction is not based on the principle of absolute copying of past generations, but by biochemical and morphological changes.

There are five main functions of living matter.

1. The energy function is the absorption of solar energy during photosynthesis, and in the decomposition of saturated substances, the absorption of chemical energy.
2. In the course of the life of certain species selective accumulation takes place. This function is called concentration. It can be carried out by a mass increase in the concentration of components in the medium or by the specific accumulation of one or the other element, regardless of the medium.
3. The destructive function is the mineralization of abiogenic organic substances, the decomposition of non-living inorganic products, the involvement of the formed components in the biological cycle.
4. The mediating function is the transformation of the physical and chemical parameters of the environment.
5. Due to food interactions, a significant mass of elements moves in the horizontal direction and against the force of gravity. Thus, the transport function is performed.