Geochemistry

Geochemistry studies the origin, evolution and distribution of chemical elements on Earth which are contained in the rock-forming minerals and the products derived from it, as well as in living beings, water and atmosphere. One of the goals of geochemistry is to determine the abundance of elements in nature, as this information is essential to hypotheses development about the origin and structure of our planet and the universe. An element is material which has a particular kind of atom with specific electronic structure and nuclear charge, factors that determine their abundance in the rocks. Regarding distribution, it can only have direct evidence on the composition of the Earth’s crust and indirect on the mantle and core.