Geochemical Reaction Modeling: Concepts and Applications - Hardcover

Bethke, Craig M.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0195094751 ISBN 13: 9780195094756

Publisher: Oxford University Press, 1996

Synopsis

Geochemical reaction modeling plays an increasingly vital role in several areas of geoscience, from environmental geochemistry and petroleum geology to the study of geothermal and hydrothermal fluids. This book provides an up-to-date overview of the use of numerical methods to model reaction processes in the Earth's crust and on its surface. Early chapters develop the theoretical foundations of the field, derive a set of governing equations, and show how numerical methods can be used to solve these equations. Other chapters discuss the distribution of species in natural waters; methods for computing activity coefficients in dilute solutions and in brines; the complexation of ions into mineral surfaces; the kinetics of precipitation and dissolution reactions; and the fractionation of stable isotopes. Later chapters provide a large number of fully worked calculation examples and case studies demonstrating the modeling techniques that can be applied to scientific and practical problems. Students in a variety of specialties from low-temperature geochemistry to groundwater hydrology will benefit from the wealth of information and practical applications this book has to offer.

About this title

About the Author

Craig M. Bethke is at University of Illinois, Urbana.

Review

"This book definitively demystifies geochemical modeling of water-rock reactions and makes it a breeze....Quantitative applications are described in many short direct chapters with excellent figures and geological sense....an outstanding book for students, teachers, researchers, and professionals. . .interested in any low-temperature geochemical endeavor." --Journal of Geology

"The book is well organized, the concepts are rigorously and clearly explained, and the range of examples are relevant and interesting. The writing style is lucid and concise, and I found the book a pleasure to read. The author also takes a refreshingly balanced view of the role and limitations of modeling."--Meteoritics & Planetary Science

"For the reader with some previous exposure to the subject, this book does a marvellous job of putting things in their place, and includes some clear explanations of some potentially difficult topics. . . .this is a unique book with many valuable insights. Mathematical derivations are balanced by clear, qualitative descriptions of what is going on." --Bruce Yardley, Journal of Petrology

"The first text to attempt to strip away some of the arcane mysteries that surround [this] subject and explain how, and of course why, geochemical modelling of fluid-rock interactions is carried out. . . .Essential reading for anyone starting off in the study of water-rock interactions, as well as being an extremely valuable reference for people already wrestling with such problems." --Bruce Yardley, Journal of Petrology

"The book . . . is divided into three parts devoted to equilibrium concepts and calculations, reaction processes, and applied reaction modeling. . . . In Part 1, I found new material on and/or novel presentations of surface complexation and viral methods for determining activity coefficients in brines. Chapters on uniqueness and uncertainty in geochemical methods also caught my attention because these issues invariably come up in using inverse modeling codes such as NETPATH . . . Part 2 on reaction processes contains interesting chapters on geochemical buffers and stable isotopes . . . Part 3 covers applied reaction modeling with chapters and case histories on hydrothermal fluids, goethermometry, evaporation, sediment diagenesis, kinetic reaction paths, waste injection wells, petroleum reservoirs, and acid drainage. . . . In summary, this is a book that could be useful to an experienced geochemist . . ."--Mathematical Geology

Edition details

• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Publication date: 1996
• ISBN 10: 0195094751
• ISBN 13: 9780195094756
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 416