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.

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 Earth system consists of subsystems that include the atmosphere, hydrosphere (water), geosphere (rocks, minerals), biosphere, and humans. In order to understand these subsystems and their interactions, it is essential to clarify the mass transfer mechanism, geochemical cycle, and influence of human activity on the natural environment. This book presents fundamental theories (thermodynamics, kinetics, mass balance model, coupling models such as the kinetics-fluid flow model, the box model, and others) concerning mechanisms in weathering, formation of hydrothermal ore deposits, hydrothermal alteration, formation of groundwater quality, and the seawater system. The interaction between fluids (atmosphere, water) and solid phases (rocks, minerals) occurs both in low-temperature and also in high-temperature systems. This book considers the complex low-temperature cycle with the high-temperature cycle, a combination that has not been dealt with in previous books concerning Earth systems. Humanity is a small part of the biosphere; however, human activities greatly influence Earth’s surface environments (atmosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere, soils, rocks). Thus, the influences of humans on other subsystems, particularly mass transfer in the deep underground geologic environment composed of host rocks and groundwater, are discussed in relation to high-level nuclear waste geologic disposal and CO2 underground sequestration—topics that have not been included in other books on environmental science.

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.