Kinetics and Mechanism of Ecochemical Processes

Abstract

Significant efforts of mankind and huge funds were spent to study the mechanisms of environmental processes. Recent decades have been marked by exponential growth of computer power and the accompanying decrease in the cost of computing. With regard to the mathematical modeling of physical and chemical processes that determine the quality of natural waters, atmosphere, and soil, this has led to the development of an extensive approach based on an increase in the number of components and reactions between them taken into consideration. In this chapter, the authors describe features of ecochemical systems and discuss the moments that complicates their prediction. Using the method of numerical experiment, they investigate the behavior of periodic systems with multiple stationary states. One conclusion is that the actual manifestation cannot be used to determine at what stage the impact occurred and to what stage of the food chain it relates. Another conclusion is that systems involving multiple stationary states are prone to bifurcations and chaotic jumps from one limit cycle to another.