Introduction To Geochemistry

AY2020/2021 Semester 1

This course is designed to introduce students the principles of chemistry related to geology and their applications to understand processes taking place on and within the Earth. By the end of the course, students should become familiar with the basic geochemical tools, and be able to use these tools to solve, in a quantitative manner, some geological and environmental problems, for example, measuring geological time, unravelling the continental and oceanic evolutions, and understanding the current climate change. Content We will investigate large scale processes occurring in the geosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere, atmosphere and anthroposphere using major and trace element geochemistry and stable isotopes. We will discuss processes such as element and isotope fractionation, element transport and mixing as well as radiogenic isotopes and their application for geochronological purposes. Hands-on data collection and analysis will be core to the students learning experience and will be done during tutorials and assignments.