Gechemistry / Геохимия

Geochemistry is the chemistry of the natural environment and it encompasses the earth as well as other Solar System bodies, what Antoine Lavoisier described as “the grand laboratory of nature.” A complete definition might be that geochemistry applies chemistry to understanding the earth and its cosmic environment and using that understanding to better the human condition. Because it’s the planet we have the most data on and, more importantly, it’s the one we inhabit, most of geochemistry focuses on the earth. Nevertheless, because the earth formed in the same process as the rest of the Solar System, it must be considered in the context of that system.
Indeed, one of the objectives of geochemistry is to understand the earth’s formation four and one-half billion years ago and how it has evolved and continues to evolve from its initial, still poorly understood state. Earth’s evolution began with an early differentiation into a dense, iron-rich core and a silicate mantle surrounded by a tenuous (in comparison to the massive outer planets) atmosphere. That evolution continues as geologic processes ranging from the hydrologic cycle to volcanism and plate tectonics continually shuffle chemical elements between various geochemical “reservoirs” such as the crust, the oceans, the atmosphere, and the mantle. Geochemistry attempts not only to define the compositions of these reservoirs but also to understand the processes occurring within and between them <...>