With the growing recognition during the last two centuries that the Earth has an immense age and processes over long periods of time have changed the morphology and composition of the Earth's crust, geologists have become increasingly interested in determination of absolute ages. A rela tive geochronology was established on the basis of the lithostratigraphic and biostratigraphic principles developed during the last century. With the discovery of radioactivity, the basis for a new geoscien...

Fully updated and expanded, this new edition provides students with an accessible introduction to marine chemistry. It highlights geochemical interactions between the ocean, solid earth, atmosphere and climate, enabling students to appreciate the interconnectedness of Earth's processes and systems and elucidates the huge variations in the oceans' chemical environment, from surface waters to deep water. Written in a clear, engaging way, the book provides students in oceanography, marine che...

Beginning systematically with the fundamentals, the fully-updated third edition of this popular graduate textbook provides an understanding of all the essential elements of marine optics. It explains the key role of light as a major factor in determining the operation and biological composition of aquatic ecosystems, and its scope ranges from the physics of light transmission within water, through the biochemistry and physiology of aquatic photosynthesis, to the ecological relationships th...

Applications of radioactive and stable isotopes have revolutionized our understanding of the Earth and near-earth surface processes. The utility of the isotopes are ever-increasing and our sole focus is to bring out the applications of these isotopes as tracers and chronometers to a wider audience so that they can be used as powerful tools to solve environmental problems. New developments in this field remain mostly in peer-reviewed journal articles and hence our goal is to synthesize thes...

Fluid-aided mass transfer and subsequent mineral re-equilibration are the two defining features of metasomatism and must be present in order for metamorphism to occur. Coupled with igneous and tectonic processes, metasomatism has played a major role in the formation of the Earth’s continental and oceanic crust and lithospheric mantle as well as in their evolution and subsequent stabilization. Metasomatic processes can include ore mineralization, metasomatically induced alteration of oceani...

This book provides a detailed examination of the concentration, form and cycling of trace metals and metalloids through the aquatic biosphere, and has sections dealing with the atmosphere, the ocean, lakes and rivers. It discusses exchanges at the water interface (air/water and sediment/water) and the major drivers of the cycling, concentration and form of trace metals in aquatic systems. The initial chapters focus on the fundamental principles and modelling approaches needed to understand...

This book provides a comprehensive treatment of the chemical nature of the Earth’s early surface environment and how that led to the origin of life. This includes a detailed discussion of the likely process by which life emerged using as much quantitative information as possible. The emergence of life and the prior surface conditions of the Earth have implications for the evolution of Earth’s surface environment over the following 2-2.5 billion years. The last part of the book discusses ho...

Marine Geochemistry offers a fully comprehensive and integrated treatment of the chemistry of the oceans, their sediments and biota. The first edition of the book received strong critical acclaim and was described as ‘a standard text for years to come.’ This third edition of Marine Geochemistry has been written at a time when the role of the oceans in the Earth System is becoming increasingly apparent.Following the successful format adopted previously, th...

The book offers a modern, comprehensive, and holistic view of natural gas seepage, defined as the visible or invisible flow of gaseous hydrocarbons from subsurface sources to Earth’s surface. Beginning with definitions, classifications for onshore and offshore seepage, and fundamentals on gas migration mechanisms, the book reports the latest findings for the global distribution of gas seepage and describes detection methods. Seepage implications are discussed in relation to petroleum explo...

INTRODUCTION TO GeochemistryThis book is intended to serve as a text for an introductory course in geochemistry for undergraduate/ graduate students with at least an elementary-level background in earth sciences, chemistry, and mathematics. The text, containing 83 tables and 181 figures, covers a wide variety of topics – ranging from atomic structure to chemical and isotopic equilibria to modern biogeochemical cycles – which are divided into four interrelated parts...

This edited work contains the most recent advances related to the study of layered intrusions and cumulate rocks formation. The first part of this book presents reviews and new views of processes producing the textural, mineralogical and geochemical characteristics of layered igneous rocks. The second part summarizes progress in the study of selected layered intrusions and their ore deposits from different parts of the world including Canada, Southwest China, Greenland and South Africa.

Recent years have seen an expansion in speciality uses of activated carbons including medicine, filtration, and the purification of liquids and gaseous media. Much of current research and information surrounding the nature and use of activated carbon is scattered throughout various literature, which has created the need for an up-to-date comprehensive and integrated review reference. In this book, special attention is paid to porosities in all forms of carbon, and to the modern-day materia...