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GEO 135

Introduction to Geochemistry

Greg Druschel
321 Delehanty Hall
Gregory.Druschel@uvm.edu
Course Goals
At the end of this course…
• You will be able to utilize thermodynamic to determine if
individual reactions are feasible/important under any
given condition
• You will be able to design a sampling protocol, analyze
key chemical components, apply thermodynamic or
kinetic models, and test hypotheses concerning the
mobility of elements in any setting
• You will be able to appreciate both the dynamics and
complexity of geochemistry yet utilize what you know to
ascertain processes important in the stability, movement,
and reactivity of elements in the earth
What is Geochemistry??
• Victor Goldschmidt defined the study of
geochemistry as: “the laws governing the
distribution of the chemical elements and
their isotopes throughout the earth”

• What does that mean?


• We are interested in understanding the
different ways in which elements move 
whether in the core, mantle, crust, oceans,
sediments, air, space, or other planets…
b
Light  photochemical rxns, phototrophic organisms??
O2 diffusion

FeS2 + 3.5 O2 + H2O  Fe2+ + 2 SO42- + 2 H+

Bacteria/ archea  Fe oxidizers, S oxidizers


Fe2+ + O2 + H+  Fe3+OOH + 2 H+

H+ + SO42- < -- > HSO4-

CH2O + FeOOH  Fe2+ + CO2

CH2O + SO42-  HS- + CO2


Field Geochemistry
• Scale – Where and when do you take a sample??
Field Notebook
• Need to record all observations,
measurements, and sampling
locations/times

• Get something weatherproof (Write-in-the


rain notebooks work great)

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