Geochemistry at the surface of the earth is dominated by two somewhat antagonistic forces: chemical reactions which attempt to attain a steady state (equilibrium) and geological movement of materials in time and space which changes the parameters that control chemical equilibrium. Another aspect that is extremely important to earth surface geochemistry is the effect of plants on the chemical and physical stability of materials (soils). Plant systems in fact work against the normal chemical changes (loss of silica, potassium, etc.) and the normal physical changes (stabilizing fine grained materials (clays) in the surface zones to avoid erosion). Biological effects are clearly seen in redox effects in the various parts of the earth surface movement cycle; soil formation, stream transport, sedimentation. This book attempts to outline these different parameters and their interactions as they affect earth surface geochemistry in order to give a better understanding of movement and accumulation of elements at the surface of the earth.

Geochemistry of Earth Surface Systems offers an interdisciplinary reference for scientists, researchers and upper undergraduate and graduate level geochemistry students a sampling of articles on earth surface processes from The Treatise on Geochemistry that is more affordable than the full Treatise. For professionals, this volume will provide an overview of the field as a whole. For students, it will provide more in-depth introductory content than is found in broad-based geochemistry textbooks. Articles were selected from chapters across all volumes of the full Treatise, and include: Volcanic Degassing, Hydrothermal Processes, The Contemporary Carbon Cycle, Global Occurrence of Major Elements in Rivers, Organic Matter in the Contemporary Ocean, The Biological Pump, and Evolution of Sedimentary Rocks. Comprehensive, interdisciplinary and authoritative content selected by leading subject experts Robust illustrations, figures and tables Affordably priced sampling of content from the full Treatise on Geochemistry

The Encyclopedia is a complete and authoritative reference work for this rapidly evolving field. Over 200 international scientists, each experts in their specialties, have written over 330 separate topics on different aspects of geochemistry including geochemical thermodynamics and kinetics, isotope and organic geochemistry, meteorites and cosmochemistry, the carbon cycle and climate, trace elements, geochemistry of high and low temperature processes, and ore deposition, to name just a few. The geochemical behavior of the elements is described as is the state of the art in analytical geochemistry. Each topic incorporates cross-referencing to related articles, and also has its own reference list to lead the reader to the essential articles within the published literature. The entries are arranged alphabetically, for easy access, and the subject and citation indices are comprehensive and extensive. Geochemistry applies chemical techniques and approaches to understanding the Earth and how it works. It touches upon almost every aspect of earth science, ranging from applied topics such as the search for energy and mineral resources, environmental pollution, and climate change to more basic questions such as the Earth’s origin and composition, the origin and evolution of life, rock weathering and metamorphism, and the pattern of ocean and mantle circulation. Geochemistry allows us to assign absolute ages to events in Earth’s history, to trace the flow of ocean water both now and in the past, trace sediments into subduction zones and arc volcanoes, and trace petroleum to its source rock and ultimately the environment in which it formed. The earliest of evidence of life is chemical and isotopic traces, not fossils, preserved in rocks. Geochemistry has allowed us to unravel the history of the ice ages and thereby deduce their cause. Geochemistry allows us to determine the swings in Earth’s surface temperatures during the ice ages, determine the temperatures and pressures at which rocks have been metamorphosed, and the rates at which ancient magma chambers cooled and crystallized. The field has grown rapidly more sophisticated, in both analytical techniques that can determine elemental concentrations or isotope ratios with exquisite precision and in computational modeling on scales ranging from atomic to planetary.

Developments in Geochemistry, Volume 2: Rare Earth Element Geochemistry presents the remarkable developments in the chemistry and geochemistry of the rare earth elements. This book discusses the analytical techniques and the recognition that rare earth fractionation occurs naturally in different ways. Organized into 13 chapters, this volume begins with an overview of the wide array of types and sizes of the cation coordination polyhedral in rock-forming minerals. This text then examines the application of rare earth element abundances to petrogenetic problems that has centered on the evolution of igneous rocks. Other chapters consider the matching of observed rare earth element abundances with those provided by the theoretical modeling of petrogenetic processes. This book discusses as well the hypotheses on the genesis of a rock or mineral suite. The final chapter deals with the principal analytical methods. This book is a valuable resource for undergraduates, lecturers, and researchers who study petrology and geochemistry.

This is a book about the why and how of doing experiments on rocks, minerals, magmas, and fluids. It could have as logically been subtitled "Experimental petrology" as "Experimental geochemistry," but we chose geochemistry to emphasize the broad and overlapping nature of current experimental work. We have tried to aim the book at a general readership which we hope will include advanced undergraduate students, graduate students, and anyone else interested in learning something about experimental petrology. Although we hope there will be something of interest for the practicing experimentalist, our aim is at the non-experimentalist interested in learning why experiments are useful, what kind of experiments can be done, and what some of the major problems and limitations are and how they can best be avoided. The result of a journey through this book should be an ability to evaluate published experimental work critically and a knowledge of the kinds of problems an experimentalist might be able to help solve. Some details of experimental technique are included in the Appendix for those readers who want to "get their hands dirty. " Indeed, one of our main incentives for writing this book was to try to encourage more petrologists and geochemists to become experimentalists. In our pedagogical approach we have chosen to discuss a small number of case histories as illustrations of principles and techniques. We have tried to select studies we regard as well executed.

Early Earth Systems provides a complete history of the Earth from its beginnings to the end of the Archaean. This journey through the Earth's early history begins with the Earth's origin, then examines the evolution of the mantle, the origin of the continental crust, the origin and evolution of the Earth's atmosphere and oceans, and ends with the origin of life. Looks at the evidence for the Earth's very early differentiation into core, mantle, crust, atmosphere and oceans and how this differentiation saw extreme interactions within the Earth system. Discusses Archaean Earth processes within the framework of the Earth System Science paradigm, providing a qualitative assessment of the principal reservoirs and fluxes in the early Earth. “The book would be perfect for a graduate-level or upper level undergraduate course on the early Earth. It will also serve as a great starting point for researchers in solid-Earth geochemistry who want to know more about the Earth’s early atmosphere and biosphere, and vice versa for low temperature geochemists who want to get a modern overview of the Earth’s interior.” Geological Magazine, 2008

Volume 21 of Reviews in Mineralogy treats a short course on the rare earth elements to about 80 participants in San Francisco, California, December 1-3, 1989, just prior to the fall meeting of the American Geophysical Union. Contents: Cosmochemistry of the Rare Earth Elements: Condensation and Evaporation Processes Radiogenic Isotope Geochemistry of Rare Earth Elements Partitioning of Rare Earth Elements between Major Silicate Minerals and Basaltic Melts An Approach to Trace Element Modeling Using a Simple Igneous System as an Example Rare Earth Elements in Upper Mantle Rocks Rare Earth Elements in Metamorphic Rocks Rare Earth Elements in Sedimentary Rocks: Influence of Provenance and Sedimentary Processes Aqueous Geochemistry of Rare Earth Elements Rare Earth Elements in Lunar Materials Compositional and Phase Relations among Rare Earth Element Minerals Economic Geology of Rare Earth Minerals Cathodoluminescence Emission Spectra of Rare Earth Element Activators in Minerals