Chemical Fundamentals of Geology and Environmental Geoscience

Chemical principles are fundamental to the Earth sciences, and geoscience students increasingly require a firm grasp of basic chemistry to succeed in their studies. The enlarged third edition of this highly regarded textbook introduces the student to such geo-relevant chemistry, presented in the same lucid and accessible style as earlier editions, but the new edition has been strengthened in its coverage of environmental geoscience and incorporates a new chapter introducing isotope geochemistry. The book comprises three broad sections. The first (Chapters 1 4) deals with the basic physical chemistry of geological processes. The second (Chapters 5 8) introduces the wave-mechanical view of the atom and explains the various types of chemical bonding that give Earth materials their diverse and distinctive properties. The final chapters (9 11) survey the geologically relevant elements and isotopes, and explain their formation and their abundances in the cosmos and the Earth. The book concludes with an extensive glossary of terms; appendices cover basic maths, explain basic solution chemistry, and list the chemical elements and the symbols, units and constants used in the book.

Chemical principles are fundamental to the Earth sciences, andgeoscience students increasingly require a firm grasp of basicchemistry to succeed in their studies. The enlarged third editionof this highly regarded textbook introduces the student to such'geo-relevant' chemistry, presented in the same lucidand accessible style as earlier editions, but the new edition hasbeen strengthened in its coverage of environmental geoscience andincorporates a new chapter introducing isotope geochemistry.The book comprises three broad sections. The first (Chapters1-4) deals with the basic physical chemistry of geologicalprocesses. The second (Chapters 5-8) introduces thewave-mechanical view of the atom and explains the various types ofchemical bonding that give Earth materials their diverse anddistinctive properties. The final chapters (9-11) survey thegeologically relevant elements and isotopes, and explain theirformation and their abundances in the cosmos and the Earth. Thebook concludes with an extensive glossary of terms; appendicescover basic maths, explain basic solution chemistry, and list thechemical elements and the symbols, units and constants used in thebook.

PREFACE TO THE THIRD EDITION ixPREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION xPREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION xiACKNOWLEDGEMENTS xiiiABOUT THE COMPANION WEBSITE xiv1 ENERGY IN GEOCHEMICAL PROCESSES 1Introduction 1Energy in mechanical systems 4Energy in chemical and mineral systems: free energy 5Stable, unstable and metastable minerals 10Further reading 132 EQUILIBRIUM IN GEOLOGICAL SYSTEMS 14The significance of mineral stability 14Systems, phases and components 16Equilibrium 18Phase diagrams in P-T space 20Phase diagrams in T-X space 26Ternary phase diagrams 36Review 41Further reading 41Sources of thermodynamic data for minerals 42Exercises 423 KINETICS OF EARTH PROCESSES 43Defining the rate of a reaction 44Temperature-dependence of reaction rate 47Diffusion 52Melt viscosity 55Persistence of metastable minerals: closure temperature 57Review 58Further reading 58Exercises 594 AQUEOUS SOLUTIONS AND THE HYDROSPHERE 60Ways of expressing the concentrations of major constituents61Equilibrium constant 63Non-ideal solutions: activity coefficient 69Natural waters 70Oxidation and reduction: Eh-pH diagrams 75Further reading 81Exercises 815 ELECTRONS IN ATOMS 82Why does a geologist need to understand atoms? 82The atom 83Stationary waves 85Electron waves in atoms 88The shapes of electron orbitals 90Electron energy levels 93Review 98Further reading 98Exercises 986 WHAT WE CAN LEARN FROM THE PERIODIC TABLE 99Ionization energy 99The Periodic Table 102Electronegativity 103Valency 104Atomic spectra 105Review 109Further reading 110Exercises 1107 CHEMICAL BONDING AND THE PROPERTIES OF MINERALS 111The ionic model of bonding 111The covalent model of bonding 118Bonding in minerals 126Other types of atomic and molecular interaction 129Review 132Further reading 132Exercises 1328 SILICATE CRYSTALS AND MELTS 133Silicate polymers 133Cation sites in silicates 140Optical properties of crystals 146Defects in crystals 148Further reading 151Exercises 1519 SOME GEOLOGICALLY IMPORTANT ELEMENTS 153Major and trace elements 153Alkali metals 154Hydrogen 156Alkaline earth metals 156Aluminium 157Carbon 159Silicon 166Nitrogen and phosphorus 166Oxygen 167Sulfur 168Fluorine 170Noble gases 171Transition metals 171Rare earth elements 175Actinides 176Further reading 177Exercise 17710 WHAT CAN WE LEARN FROM ISOTOPES? 178Isotope systems 179Radiogenic isotope systems 181Stable isotope systems 195Cosmogenic radioisotope systems 203Review 204Further reading 204Exercises 20411 THE ELEMENTS IN THE UNIVERSE 206The significance of element abundance 206Measuring cosmic and Solar System abundances 206The composite abundance curve 210Cosmic element production 211Elements in the Solar System 215Chemical evolution of the Earth 219Review 224Further reading 225Exercises 225ANSWERS TO EXERCISES 226APPENDIX A: Mathematics revision 234APPENDIX B: Simple solution chemistry 240APPENDIX C: Alphabetical list of chemical abbreviations andelement names, with atomic number and relative atomic mass 243APPENDIX D: Symbols, units, constants and abbreviations used inthis book 245Glossary 248REFERENCES 258INDEX 261