Geochemistry

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.

William White teaches geochemistry as a Professor of earth and atmospheric sciences at Cornell University. He received a B.A. in geology from the University of California, Berkeley and a PhD in oceanography from the University of Rhode Island. He is a fellow of the Geochemical Society/European Association of Geochemistry and the AGU, and has been named a highly cited author by ISI.

Chapter 1: Introduction

Chapter 2: Energy, Entropy and Fundamental Thermodynamic Concepts

Chapter 3: Solutions and Thermodynamics of Multicomponent Systems

Chapter 4: Applications of Thermodynamics to the Earth

Chapter 5: Kinetics: The Pace of Things

Chapter 6: Aquatic Chemistry

Chapter 7. Trace Elements in Igneous Processes

Chapter 8: Radiogenic Isotope Geochemistry

Chapter 9: Stable Isotope Geochemistry

Chapter 10: The Big Picture: Cosmochemistry

Chapter 11: Geochemistry of the Solid Earth

Chapter 12: Organic Geochemistry, the Carbon Cycle, and Climate

AppendixIndex