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Encyclopedia of Geochemistry pp 1–10Cite as

Geochemistry

  • Living reference work entry
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Part of the book series: Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series ((EESS))

Definition

As the term implies, geochemistry is a marriage between chemistry and geology, or more broadly geosciences or earth science, and it is arguably a subdiscipline of both. A better explanation of geochemistry is that it is applies chemistry and chemical principles to understanding the Earth and its cosmic environment and to using that understanding to better the human condition. The latter includes not only exploitation of resources but also safeguarding humans and the environment from the consequences of that exploitation.

Impact

Geochemistry has grown over the last 50 or 60 years to touch virtually every aspect of earth science. The contributions of geochemistry to this advance have been simply enormous. Much of this progress has come from innovation in analytical techniques and the ability to assess the nature of natural materials with evermore precision and on evermore finer scales. Geochemists have quantified the geologic time scale through analysis of...

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Earth & Atmospheric Sciences, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA

    William M. White

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Correspondence to William M. White .

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  1. Department of Earth, Cornell University Department of Earth, Ithaca, New York, USA

    William M. White

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White, W.M. (2017). Geochemistry. In: White, W. (eds) Encyclopedia of Geochemistry. Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-39193-9_294-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-39193-9_294-1

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