Noble Gas Geochemistry discusses the fundamental concepts of using noble gases to solve problems in the earth and planetary sciences. The discipline of noble gas geochemistry has become a major branch in the earth and planetary sciences. It offers a powerful and unique tool in resolving problems such as the origin of the solar system, evolution of the planets, Earth formation, mantle evolution and dynamics, atmospheric degassing and evolution, ocean circulation, dynamics of aquifer systems, and numerous applications to other geological problems.

Groundwater geochemistry is the science that explores the processes controlling the chemical composition of groundwater, the groundwater quality. The groundwater quality influences the use of this resource. Groundwater may contain hazardous substances that affect health when consumed or which deteriorate the environment when the water is thoughtlessly spilled at the surface. The groundwater quality may change during the exploitation or it may be affected by human activities of which the impact is not always immediately evident.

We believe this is the first collection of papers to be devoted entirely to reservoir geochemistry, which is an area of growing scientific and economic importance. The main aim of reservoir geochemistry is to understand the distributions and origin(s) of the petroleums, waters and minerals in the reservoir and account for their possible spatial and compositional variation. This is ideally related to basin history and location of source-rock kitchens and migration pathways.

Stable isotope investigations in the earth sciences continue to grow, maybe faster than ever before. After publication of the 5th edition, tremendous progress has been achieved in many subfields of stable isotope geochemistry. To name a few:

– Applications of Multicollector - ICP-MS has grown rapidly and now enable investigations on natural isotope variations of a wide range of transition and heavy elements that could not previously be measured with adequate precision.

Nucleosynthesis is the study of the nuclear processes responsible for the formation of the elements which constitute the baryonic matter of the Universe. The elements of which the Universe is composed indeed have a quite complicated nucleosynthesis history, which extends from the first three minutes of the Big Bang through to the present. Contemporary nucleosynthesis theory associates the production of certain elements/isotopes or groups of elements with a number of specific astrophysical settings, the most significant of which are: (i) the cosmological Big Bang, (ii) stars, and (iii) supernovae.

The review chapters in this volume were the basis for a two day short course on Medical Mineralogy and Geochemistry held at the United States Geological Survey in Menlo Park, California, U.S.A. (December 9-10, 2006) prior to the American Geophysical Union Meeting in San Francisco, California. This meeting and volume were sponsored by the Mineralogical Society of America, Geochemical Society, and the United States Department of Energy <...>