Geology: Basic Principles of Geochemistry

Explore geochemistry's core by applying chemistry tools to reveal Earth's composition in rocks and minerals, and the distribution of element abundances and isotopes across crust, mantle, and oceans.

Explore the composition and early history of Earth, tracing how geophysical and magnetic data reveal the crust, mantle, and liquid outer core—density, seismic signals, heat flow, and core magnetism.

Traces the origin and early history of the solar system and earth. Describes nebular collapse, core–mantle–crust differentiation, atmosphere and ocean formation, and geological evidence from potassium decay.

Explore radiometric dating, a geochemistry principle, by examining constant-rate radioactive decay, isotopes, half-life, and how a mass spectrometer measures parent and daughter concentrations.

Explore how stable isotopes, including hydrogen, carbon, oxygen, and sulfur, reveal fractionation patterns and delta values, using standards such as standard mean ocean water, to interpret histories and meteorite evidence.

Explore low temperature geochemistry and water geochemistry, focusing on surface rock weathering processes—mechanical and chemical—driven by grain size, fracturing, slow reaction rates, with solution, colloidal suspension, hydration, oxidation, and carbonation.