Issues in Biochemistry and Geochemistry / 2011 Edition is a ScholarlyEditions™ eBook that delivers timely, authoritative, and comprehensive information about Biochemistry and Geochemistry. The editors have built Issues in Biochemistry and Geochemistry: 2011 Edition on the vast information databases of ScholarlyNews.™ You can expect the information about Biochemistry and Geochemistry in this eBook to be deeper than what you can access anywhere else, as well as consistently reliable, authoritative, informed, and relevant. The content of Issues in Biochemistry and Geochemistry / 2011 Edition has been produced by the world’s leading scientists, engineers, analysts, research institutions, and companies. All of the content is from peer-reviewed sources, and all of it is written, assembled, and edited by the editors at ScholarlyEditions™ and available exclusively from us. You now have a source you can cite with authority, confidence, and credibility. More information is available at http://www.ScholarlyEditions.com/.

Issues in Biochemistry and Geochemistry / 2013 Edition is a ScholarlyEditions™ book that delivers timely, authoritative, and comprehensive information about Organic Geochemistry. The editors have built Issues in Biochemistry and Geochemistry: 2013 Edition on the vast information databases of ScholarlyNews.™ You can expect the information about Organic Geochemistry in this book to be deeper than what you can access anywhere else, as well as consistently reliable, authoritative, informed, and relevant. The content of Issues in Biochemistry and Geochemistry: 2013 Edition has been produced by the world’s leading scientists, engineers, analysts, research institutions, and companies. All of the content is from peer-reviewed sources, and all of it is written, assembled, and edited by the editors at ScholarlyEditions™ and available exclusively from us. You now have a source you can cite with authority, confidence, and credibility. More information is available at http://www.ScholarlyEditions.com/.

Issues in Biochemistry and Geochemistry / 2012 Edition is a ScholarlyEditions™ eBook that delivers timely, authoritative, and comprehensive information about Inorganic Biochemistry. The editors have built Issues in Biochemistry and Geochemistry: 2012 Edition on the vast information databases of ScholarlyNews.™ You can expect the information about Inorganic Biochemistry in this eBook to be deeper than what you can access anywhere else, as well as consistently reliable, authoritative, informed, and relevant. The content of Issues in Biochemistry and Geochemistry: 2012 Edition has been produced by the world’s leading scientists, engineers, analysts, research institutions, and companies. All of the content is from peer-reviewed sources, and all of it is written, assembled, and edited by the editors at ScholarlyEditions™ and available exclusively from us. You now have a source you can cite with authority, confidence, and credibility. More information is available at http://www.ScholarlyEditions.com/.

This book is written as a reference on organic substances in natural waters and as a supplementary text for graduate students in water chemistry. The chapters address five topics: amount, origin, nature, geochemistry, and characterization of organic carbon. Of these topics, the main themes are the amount and nature of dissolved organic carbon in natural waters (mainly fresh water, although seawater is briefly discussed). It is hoped that the reader is familiar with organic chemistry, but it is not necessary. The first part of the book is a general overview of the amount and general nature of dissolved organic carbon. Over the past 10 years there has been an exponential increase in knowledge on organic substances in water, which is the result of money directed toward the research of organic compounds, of new methods of analysis (such as gas chromatography and mass spectrometry), and most importantly, the result of more people working in this field. Because of this exponential increase in knowledge, there is a need to pull together and summarize the data that has accumulated from many disciplines over the last decade.

For many years, the subject matter encompassed by the title of this book was largely limited to those who were interested in the two most economically important organic materials found buried in the Earth, namely, coal and petroleum. The point of view of any discussions which might occur, either in scientific meetings or in books that have been written, was, therefore, dominated largely by these interests. A great change has occurred in the last decade. This change had as its prime mover our growing knowledge of the molecular architecture of biological systems which, in turn, gave rise to a more legitimate asking of the question: "How did life come to be on the surface of the Earth?" A second motivation arose when the possibilities for the exploration of planets other than the Earth-the moon, Mars, and other parts of the solar system-became a reality. Thus the question of the possible existence of life elsewhere than on Earth conceivably could be answered.