Geochemistry Of Earth Surface Systems

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

This book aims to explore basic principles, concepts and applications of geochemistry. Topics include chemical weathering, impacts on living beings and water, geochemical cycles, oxidation and redox reactions in geochemistry, isotopes, analytical techniques, medicinal, inorganic, marine, atmospheric, and environmental applications, as well as case studies. This book helps in understanding the chemical composition of the earth and its applications. It also includes beneficial effects, bottlenecks, solutions, and future directions in geochemistry.

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.

Topics covered: Geochemical record of terrestrial environmental change, and global geochemical cycles; Chemical weathering and climate, river catchment studies; Environmental geochemistry of the terrestrial environment and its effect on health; Organic geochemistry; Marine and sedimentary geochemistry; Mineralogy, microbes and chemistry of weathering; Geochemical thermodynamics and kinetics; Geochemistry of crustal fluids and of catastrophic events.

This volume reports on the state of earth science and outlines a research agenda, with priorities keyed to the real-world challenges facing human society. The volume offers a wealth of information on plate tectonics, volcanism, and other heat-generated earth processes; evolution of our global environment and of life itself; human exploration of water, fossil fuels, and minerals; interaction between human populations and the earth's surface; and more. Index.

TO GEOCHEMISTRY by CLAUDE-JEAN ALLEGRE Department of Earth Sciences, University of Paris 7 and GIL MICHARD Department of Chemistry, University of Paris 7 D, REIDEL PUBLISHING COMPANY DORDRECHT-HOLLAND / BOSTON-U. S. A. INTRODUCTION A LA GEOCHIMIE First published by Presses Universitaires de France, Paris, 1973 Translated/rom the French by Robert N. Varney Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 74-83871 e-ISBN -13: 978-94 -010-2261-3 ISBN -13: 978-90-277-0498-6 DOl: 10. 1007/978-94-010-2261-3 Published by D. Reidel Publishing Company, P. O. Box 17, Dordrecht, Holland Sold and distributed in the U. S. A. , Canada, and Mexico by D. Reidel Publishing Company, Inc. 306 Dartmouth Street, Boston, Mass. 02116, U. S. A. All Rights Reserved Copyright © 1974 by D. Reidel Publishing Company, Dordrecht, Holland No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, by print, photoprint, microfilm, or any other means, without written permission from the publisher TABLE OF CONTENTS PREFACE IX PREFACE BY THE TRANSLATOR XI CHAPTER 1 / THE EARTH AS A CHEMICAL SYSTEM 1 1. 1. The Earth within the Solar System 1 1. 2. The Scale of Time 1 1. 3. The Overall Chemical Composition of the Earth, the Solar System, and the Universe 2 1. 4. Chemical Compounds in the Solar System: Cosmological Minerals 5 1. 4. 1. Simple Molecules 6 1. 4. 2. Simple Solids 6 1. 4. 3. Silicates 6 1. 4. 4. Carbon Polymers 6 1. 4. 5. Fe-Ni Alloys 6 1. 5.

Readings from the Treatise on Geochemistry offers an interdisciplinary reference for scientists, researchers and upper undergraduate and graduate level geochemistry students 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: The Origin and Earliest History of the Earth, Compositional Evolution of the Mantle, Evolution of Sedimentary Rocks, Soil Formation, Geochemistry of Groundwater, Geologic History of Seawater, Hydrothermal Processes, and Biogeochemistry of Primary Production in the Sea. 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 Natural Geochemistry of Our Environment shows that the Earth is a water world, whose water is transformed readily from the solid to the liquid to the gaseous state. This book, is an outgrowth of a report prepared in 1979 by Drs. Speidel and Agnew for the U.S. Science, Research, and Technology Subcommittee, provides just such a background to enables one to comprehend the natural system and the way that human activities affect that environment.

Colloid science has been applied by soil chemists and clay mineral ogists for many years, and some of the most important studies on the behavior of colloids have been contributed by them. Barring a few notable exceptions, only in the last decade have geochemists applied colloid science in their research and in this period much work has been published. It seemed to the authors that it would be useful at this stage to attempt to summarize the progress made and to try to examine what colloid science has contributed and can further contribute to geo chemistry. This book is based partly on a course of the same title given to graduate students by one of the authors (S. Y) between 1972 and 1977 at the Department of Geology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Consequently many fundamental concepts of the subject are included that will be of use to graduate students in geology, geo chemistry, soil science, and oceanography. So that specialists interested in certain sections may find their subjects comprehensively covered, a few topics are dealt with in more than one chapter so that readers may ignore sections not especially of interest to them. However the chapters more fully treating certain topics are cross-referenced. In such cases the subjects are treated from different viewpoints and the citations used represent these dif fering viewpoints.