With contributions by numerous experts

With contributions by numerous experts

This book provides a comprehensive introduction to the field of geochemistry. The book first lays out the ‘geochemical toolbox’: the basic principles and techniques of modern geochemistry, beginning with a review of thermodynamics and kinetics as they apply to the Earth and its environs. These basic concepts are then applied to understanding processes in aqueous systems and the behavior of trace elements in magmatic systems. Subsequent chapters introduce radiogenic and stable isotope geochemistry and illustrate their application to such diverse topics as determining geologic time, ancient climates, and the diets of prehistoric peoples. The focus then broadens to the formation of the solar system, the Earth, and the elements themselves. Then the composition of the Earth itself becomes the topic, examining the composition of the core, the mantle, and the crust and exploring how this structure originated. A final chapter covers organic chemistry, including the origin of fossil fuels and the carbon cycle’s role in controlling Earth’s climate, both in the geologic past and the rapidly changing present. Geochemistry is essential reading for all earth science students, as well as for researchers and applied scientists who require an introduction to the essential theory of geochemistry, and a survey of its applications in the earth and environmental sciences. Additional resources can be found at: www.wiley.com/go/white/geochemistry

This book develops a unified, comprehensive account of the important chemical processes in soils that can be described by reactions. The perspective taken is that of chemical thermodynamics and kinetics applied to soil systems in detail in order to provide an understanding of phenomena ranging from complexation reactions to colloidal flocculation. Problem sets are included at the end of each chapter.

Volume 8 of Reviews in Mineralogy deals with both descriptions of the kinetics of geochemical processes: the phenomenological and the atomistic. The former relies on macroscopic variables (e.g. temperature or concentrations) to describe the rates of

Geochemical kinetics as a topic is now of importance to a wide range of geochemists in academia, industry, and government, and all geochemists need a rudimentary knowledge of the field. This book summarizes the fundamentals of geochemical kinetics with examples drawn especially from mineral dissolution and precipitation. It also encompasses discussion of high temperature processes and global geochemical cycle modeling. Analysis of textures of rocks, sediments, and mineral surfaces are incorporated throughout and provide a sub-theme of the book.

This book provides a comprehensive overview of reaction processes in the Earth's crust and on its surface, both in the laboratory and in the field. A clear exposition of the underlying equations and calculation techniques is balanced by a large number of fully worked examples. The book uses The Geochemist's Workbench® modeling software, developed by the author and already installed at over 1000 universities and research facilities worldwide. Since publication of the first edition, the field of reaction modeling has continued to grow and find increasingly broad application. In particular, the description of microbial activity, surface chemistry, and redox chemistry within reaction models has become broader and more rigorous. These areas are covered in detail in this new edition, which was originally published in 2007. This text is written for graduate students and academic researchers in the fields of geochemistry, environmental engineering, contaminant hydrology, geomicrobiology, and numerical modeling.