TO GEOCHEMISTRY by CLAUDE-JEAN ALLEGRE Department of Earth Sciences, University of Paris 7 and GIL MICHARD Department of Chemistry, University of Paris 7 D, REIDEL PUBLISHING COMPANY DORDRECHT-HOLLAND / BOSTON-U. S. A. INTRODUCTION A LA GEOCHIMIE First published by Presses Universitaires de France, Paris, 1973 Translated/rom the French by Robert N. Varney Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 74-83871 e-ISBN -13: 978-94 -010-2261-3 ISBN -13: 978-90-277-0498-6 DOl: 10. 1007/978-94-010-2261-3 Published by D. Reidel Publishing Company, P. O. Box 17, Dordrecht, Holland Sold and distributed in the U. S. A. , Canada, and Mexico by D. Reidel Publishing Company, Inc. 306 Dartmouth Street, Boston, Mass. 02116, U. S. A. All Rights Reserved Copyright © 1974 by D. Reidel Publishing Company, Dordrecht, Holland No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, by print, photoprint, microfilm, or any other means, without written permission from the publisher TABLE OF CONTENTS PREFACE IX PREFACE BY THE TRANSLATOR XI CHAPTER 1 / THE EARTH AS A CHEMICAL SYSTEM 1 1. 1. The Earth within the Solar System 1 1. 2. The Scale of Time 1 1. 3. The Overall Chemical Composition of the Earth, the Solar System, and the Universe 2 1. 4. Chemical Compounds in the Solar System: Cosmological Minerals 5 1. 4. 1. Simple Molecules 6 1. 4. 2. Simple Solids 6 1. 4. 3. Silicates 6 1. 4. 4. Carbon Polymers 6 1. 4. 5. Fe-Ni Alloys 6 1. 5.