Environmental dehalogenation: chemistry and mechanism.

The halogen cycle is one of the great chemical cycles on earth. Haloorganics are both synthesized and destroyed by the chemistry that controls their flux and form. The synthetic leg of the cycle is both biotic and abiotic in nature. The biotic synthesis results primarily from the biochemical activity of marine algae and kelp, although these are by no means the only sources. The abiotic process is vested in large part in volcanic eruption and emission of gases synthesized as a thermal consequence of venting the earth's core.