The review chapters in this volume were the basis for a short course on the applications of synchrotron radiation in low-temperature geochemistry and environmental science sponsored by the U. S. Department of Energy (DOE), Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Geochemical Society (GS) and Mineralogical Society of America (MSA).

Chapter 1 A Study of Airborne Trace Elements in Belgrade Urban Area: Instrumental and Active Biomonitoring Approach M. Aničić, Z. Mijić, M. Kuzmanoski, A. Stojić, M. Tomašević, S. Rajšić and M. Tasić

Chapter 2 Flow Optosensing Applied to the Analysis of Trace Elements Antonio Ruiz-Medina and Eulogio J. Llorent-Martínez

Chapter 3 Trace Metals in Fruit and Vegetable and their Effects on Human Health Stefania Papa, Giovanni Bartoli and Antonietta Fioretto

The soil survey - designing an axploration program

Soil sampling

Analysis of soil samples

Statistical interpretation of soil geochemical data

Models, interpretation and followup <...>

All symbols used in the present work are defined at the appropriate place in the text, which can be found by reference to the index at the end of the volume. The units defined below, and the symbols by which they are identified, are confined to a general list of those most commonly used in the present work; other units will be defined where necessary in the text itself. It must be noted that a number of traditional units have been retained as a matter of policy throughout the work because they are still widely used in the current as well as in the past literature; e.g. the litre has been used as a unit volume although IAPSO have recommended that for high-precision measurements of volume it be replaced by the cubic decimetre (dm3). For a detailed treatment of the use of SI units in oceanography see the IAPSO recommendations published by Unesco (1985). <...>

The stury of sulfide-oxidation reactions, the characterization of the products of these reactions, and the prediction of the fate of sulfide-oxidation products in natural environments are increasingly active areas of research. This research is motivated by the locally severe environmental impacts and toxicity associated with the products of sulfide oxidation. Mine wastes are of particular concern because of past and present disposal practices that have resulted in the widespread degradation of surface-water and ground-water quality. Mine wastes have therefore come under increasing regulation.

Chemical weathering of silicate minerals results from the differences in the thermodynamic conditions that existed at the time of mineral formation and that of ambient conditions at the earth's surface. The solid state characteristics of silicate minerals, generally established at high temperature and/or pressures, continue to be reflected during weathering through mineral compositions, crystallographic structures and the petrographic fabric and textures of rocks. The ambient processes which most influence silicate weathering are associated with the flow and chemistry of water at the earth's surface. The term "weathering" implies strong dependency on processes associated with the hydrosphere, atmosphere, and biosphere. <...>

This chapter reviews the geological occurrences, structures, and phase transitions of the low-pressure silica polymorphs-quartz, tridymite, and cristobalite. All these phases experience displacive transformations that involve structural contraction with decreased temperature, and research over the past three decades has sought out the mechanisms that control these transitions. The passage from ~- to a-quartz is associated with an intermediate phase that is stable over a 1.3°C temperature interval. X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy have revealed that this phase consists of Dauphine microtwins that are incommensurately modulated. Meteoritic and synthetic tridymite experience a series of structural alterations with decreasing temperature during which the symmetry changes from hexagonal (HP) to orthorhombic (OC, OS, and OP) to monoclinic (MC). Phase transition behavior in terrestrial tridymite (PO-n and MX-1) is more complex, probably due to a greater degree of structural disorder. The transformation from cubic ~- cristobalite to tetragonal a-cristobalite is marked by a high spontaneous strain and a large hysteresis in the transition temperature. The three high-temperature polymorphs-s-bquartz, HP-tridymite, and ~-cristobalite-exhibit evidence for dynamical disorder, but the nature of the atomic oscillations in these phases remains an active area of investigation. <...>

 Представление о круговороте химических элементов в земной коре, введенное и разрабатывавшееся в геохимии В.И,Вернадским, А.Е.Ферсманом, В.М.Гольдшмидтом, А.П.Виноградовым, является синтезом закономерностей поведения элементов в процессах образования и преобразования вещества земной коры. Основными целями такого синтеза являются:

Данная работа была поставлена в Институте в связи с представлениями акаде мика А.П.Виноградова о возможной аналогии процессов выплавления вещества земной коры из мантии механизму зонного плавления. Высказанная в виде общей идеи в 1955 году эта гипотеза была затем (1956-1957гг.) проверена на экспериментальной модели с силикатным веществом хондритов. Проведенные опыты, результаты которых были опубликованы А.П.Виноградовым в 1957-1959 гг., показали, что общая тенденция разделения элементов, наблюдающаяся в экспериментах, отвечает закономерностям распределения элементов в оболочках Земли. Эти данные позволили А.П.Виноградову в ряде статей 1959-1964 гг.,- обобщающих новые и наиболее достоверные геохимические данные, построить представления о характере химической эволюции.. Земли, процессе возникновения ее оболочечного строения, образования и эволюции гидросферы и атмосферы. <...>