PRINCIPLES OF

GEOCHEMISTRY

Geochemistry (Geo 401)

Lecture1
Dr. Samia A. Ibrahim
 Course contents
 Study of petrographic province.
 The concept of variation diagrams and magma
differentiation theory.
 Geochemical classification of elements in terms of
electronic structure and type of the bond.
 Nature of trace element and their occurrence in
different types of rocks.
 Study phase diagrams (two and three liquid phases),
miscible liquids and alloy forming.
 The reaction with occurred in chemical weathering
calculation of norm.
 Geochemistry = chemistry of the Earth
(i.e., of earth materials — minerals and rocks)

The main focus of geochemistry is to:

 Understand the principles governing the distribution and
re-distribution of elements, ionic species and isotop
ratios in earth materials, so that we can interpret th
formation of mineral assemblages: conditions (P, T, etc.)
processes (magmatic crystallization, weathering
chemical precipitation, metamorphism, etc.), and even
the age.
 Predict changes in mineral assemblages (minerals
concentrations of elements, isotopic ratios) if a given
mineral assemblage is subjected to different condition
(T, P, interaction with a fluid, etc.)
 References

• Mason, Brian Harold (1966)Principle of Geochemistry

Mason, Brian Harold

• Krauskopf & Bird (1995): Introduction to Geochemistry

• Faure (1996): Principles and Applications of Inorganic
Geochemistry
• McSween , Richardson, and Uhle (2003):
Geochemistry: Pathways and Processes

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 HISTORICAL REVIEW
 The name “geochemistry” was first introduced by
Schonbein since more than 150 years.
 Clark, who was a chief chemist of the US. Geological
Survey from 1884 to 1925, has contributed very much to
the science "geochemistry“, He published a very large
number of chemical analyses of the various rocks in the
earth's crust.
 Goldschmidt (1888 - 1947) contributed significantly to
the roles of ionic size, coordination and atomic
substitution in crystal lattices. He gave a practical
definition for the science geochemistry, as it deals with:
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1) The abundance of elements in rock, mineral or
crystal,
2) The distribution of the elements, and
3) Lows governing the abundance and distribution of
elements in rock, mineral or crystal.

What is Geochemistry??
 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… 6
 Task of geochemistry

 “The major task of geochemistry is to investigate

the composition of the Earth as a whole, and of
its various components and to uncover the laws
that control the distribution of the various
elements.
 To solve these problems, the geochemist needs a
comprehensive collection of analytical data of
terrestrial material, i.e. rocks, waters and
atmosphere.
 Furthermore, he uses analyses of meteorites,
astrophysical data about the composition of other
cosmic bodies and geophysical data about the
nature of the Earth’s inside. 7
 Much useful information also came from the
synthesis of minerals in the lab and from the
observation of their mode of formation and
stability conditions.”

 The contributions of the geochemists are remarkable,

especially after the improvement of the analytical
techniques at the early decades of the present century.

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 Classification of the element on geochemical basis
 Names such as siderophile, chalcophile, lithophile,
hydrophile, thalassophile, atmophile: are commonly used
to denote particular geochemical affinity of elements.
 Modern advances in geochemistry are enormous in different
academic and applied disciplines.
 The revolution in the analytical techniques, especially the
coupled inductively plasma-mass spectrometry facilitated
data with very high precision on all components of the
earth, such as water, soil, sediments, air, rock, crystals
and minerals.
 Recently, huge data are accumulating on the geochemistry
of the REE, PGM or PGEs and the inert gases.
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 Goldschmidt’s Geochemical Associations
 The Goldschmidt classification is a geochemical
classification which groups the chemical elements within
the Earth according to their preferred host phases into:-
lithophile ( rock -loving), siderophile ( iron -loving),
chalcophile ( ore -loving or chalcogen -loving), and
atmophile (gas-loving) or volatile (the element, or a
compound in which it occurs, is liquid or gaseous at
ambient surface conditions).
 Some elements have affinities to more than one phase.
The main affinity is given below:
 Siderophile: elements with an affinity for a liquid
metallic phase (usually iron), e.g. Earth’s core
 Chalcophile: elements with an affinity for a liquid
sulphide phase; depleted in BSE (Bulk silicate Earth)
and are also likely partitioned in the core.

 Lithophile: elements with an affinity for silicate

phases, concentrated in the Earth’s mantle and crust.

 Atmophile: elements that are extremely volatile and

concentrated in the Earth’s hydrosphere and
atmosphere.
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From W.M. White, 2001
 Bulk silicate Earth

 Bulk Silicate Earth (BSE) refers to the original

chemical composition of the silicate part of the Earth
after the accretion and separation of a core but prior to
differentiation of the first crust. For this reason, BSE is
comparable to the composition of the Earth’s
“primitive mantle.”
 There are several models to evaluate the BSE initial
composition.
 The classic model is to infer BSE from the chemical
composition of the most primitive, undifferentiated
meteorites, i.e., the CI-class carbonaceous chondrites.

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 Using this model, refractory lithophile elements (i.e., those
which did not enter the core but remained in the silicate
mantle) are given relative abundances as they occur in
chondrites.
 Other models point to differences in ratios of 142Nd/144Nd
and 3He/4He between primitive, mantle-derived lavas and
chondrites to derive a somewhat different, nonchondritic
composition of the primitive mantle.

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 The Earth forms from accreting primordial material in
the solar system, an iron metal core separates and
compatible metals go into the core.
 But U, Th (K?) are lithophile; they prefer to be in the
silicat or molten rock around the iron core
 Earth is basically ‘rock metal’ can thus estimate the
amount of U and Th in the primitive mantle using
chondrites, the size of the earth, after core mantle
differentiation this the Bulk Silicates Earth
Model….then, the crust becomes enriched in U , Th
and K resulting in a mantle that depleted (compared to
BSE concentrations)
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 Sub-disciplines of Geochemistry
Geochemistry uses the tools of chemistry to understand
processes on Earth. There are sub-disciplines of
Geochemistry includes:  Trace element geochemistry
 Isotope geochemistry
 Petrochemistry
 Soil geochemistry
 Sediment geochemistry
 Marine geochemistry
Geochemical thermodynamics  Atmospheric geochemistry
and kinetics  Planetary geochemistry and
 Aquatic chemistry Cosmochemistry
 Inorganic geochemistry
 Organic geochemistry
 Biogeochemistry 20
 Environmental geochemistry
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 Chemical Properties of the Elements - Summary
Hydrogen Hydrogen is unique as it is the simplest possible atom consisting of
just one proton and one electron
Alkali Metals These are very reactive metals that do not occur freely in nature.
These metals have only one electron in their outer shell, therefore
they are ready to lose that one electron in ionic bonding with other
elements. The alkali metals are softer than most other metals.
Cesium and francium are the most reactive elements in this group.
Alkaline Earth The alkaline earth elements are metallic. All alkaline earth elements
Metals have an oxidation number of +2, making them very reactive.
Because of their reactivity, the alkaline metals are not found free in
nature.
Transition The transition elements are both ductile and malleable, and conduct
Metals electricity and heat. The interesting thing about transition metals is
that their valence electrons, or the electrons they use to combine
with other elements, are present in more than one shell. This is the
reason why they often exhibit several common oxidation states.
Other Metals The 7 elements classified as other metals, unlike the transition
elements, do not exhibit variable oxidation states, and their valence
electrons are only present in their outer shell. All of these elements
are solid. They have oxidation numbers of +3, +4, -4, and -3.
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Metalloids Metalloids are the elements found along the stair-step line that
distinguishes metals from non-metals. This line is drawn from
between Boron and Aluminum to the border between Polonium and
Astatine. Metalloids have properties of both metals and non-metals.
Some of the metalloids, such as silicon and germanium, are semi-
conductors.
Non-Metals Non-metals are not able to conduct electricity or heat very well. As
opposed to metals, non-metallic elements are very brittle. The non-
metals exist in two of the three states of matter at room temperature:
gases (such as oxygen) and solids (such as carbon). They have
oxidation numbers of +4, -4, -3, and -2.
Rare Earth The thirty rare earth elements are composed of the lanthanide and
Metals actinide series. They are transition metals. One element of the
lanthanide series and most of the elements in the actinide series are
called trans-uranic, and are synthetic or man-made
Halogens The term “halogen” means “salt-former” and compounds containing
halogens are called “salts”. All halogens have 7 electrons in their
outer shell, giving them an oxidation number of -1. The halogens are
non-metallic and exist, at room temperature, in all three states of
matter
Noble Gases All noble gases have the maximum number of electrons possible in
their outer shell (2 for Helium, 8 for all others), making them stable
and preventing them from forming compounds readily. 23
Thank you

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