Introduction to organic geochemistry / Введение в органическую геохимию

To begin with,a brief statement of what constitutes organic geochemistry is probably called for.It is the study of the transformation undergone by organic matter of all types, whether of biological or manmade origin, in the Earth System. The transformations involved vary from those mediated by biological processes involved  in the production of living tissue and the operation of food-chains, to those controlled by temperature and pressure at depth in the crust. Photochemical processes in the atmosphere and hydrosphere can also be important in controlling the environmental behaviour of some organic compounds.

Our knowledge of organic geochemistry has been expanding at such a great rate that a comprehensive text on the subject would fill many books of this size.To a newcomer, the bulk of information and the terminology adopted from a range of disciplines, such as chemistry, geology, ecology, biochemistry, botany and oceanography,can be quite daunting.However,to those not readily deterred,the fascination of the subject soon becomes apparent. If only the basics of organic geochemistry could be found readily at hand rather than scattered through textbooks and journals of a number of disciplines! These were our thoughts when we first came to the subject in the 1980s, and they subsequently provided the stimulus for this book when one of us (SDK) began teaching the subject to undergraduates and postgraduates. <...>