Theoretical geochemistry: Applications of quantum mechanics in the Earth and mineral sciences / Теоретическая геохимия: применение квантовой механики в науках о Земле и минералах

Geochemistry is most obviously defined as the "study of the chemistry of the Earth." In the broadest sense, the subject attempts to describe and understand the distribution of the elements (and their isotopes) in all parts of the Earth; the atmosphere, and hydrosphere, the Earth's crust, and its deeper interior (mantle and core). However, geochemists have traditionally concentrated their attention on the solid Earth and on surface or near-surface processes involving fluids, leaving the atmosphere and hydrosphere to other specialists such as the atmospheric scientists and chemical oceanographers. Geochemists have also concerned themselves with the chemistry of extraterrestrial matter (strictly termed cosmochemistry) because of its importance in understanding the origin and history of the solar system and hence of the Earth. A recent, and very welcome, development is the growth of interdisciplinary fields (such as biogeochemistry) and a return to attempts to view the chemical systems of the Earth (lithosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere, and atmosphere) as a whole. <...>