Geochemistry

Geochemistry applies chemical principles to understand the distribution, cycling and transformation of elements in Earth’s solid, liquid and gaseous reservoirs. It spans the study of mineral formation and weathering, the partitioning of elements between fluids and solids, and the pathways by which volatiles and trace metals migrate through the crust, oceans and atmosphere. By combining field sampling, laboratory experiments and thermodynamic and kinetic modelling, geochemists reconstruct processes ranging from mantle melting and crustal differentiation to soil formation, aqueous alteration and pollutant fate. Stable and radiogenic isotopes record temperatures, fluid sources and timescales of rock–fluid interaction, while spectrometric techniques characterise trace-element behaviour at microscale. Advances in high-resolution mass spectrometry, in situ microanalysis and molecular proxies have deepened our insight into global element budgets, Earth-system feedbacks and resource formation. Applications include assessing volcanic degassing, reconstructing past climates, guiding mineral and critical-element exploration, and informing water-quality management and remediation.

Research from Nature Portfolio

Massive crustal carbon release has been quantified in a transect across the Himalayan-Tibetan collision, where metamorphic decarbonation of buried crustal rocks yields CO₂ fluxes comparable to those of mid-ocean ridges. Combined in situ CO₂ flux measurements and helium-carbon isotope systematics reveal that underthrusting of India stimulates deep carbon mobilisation, elevating active collisional orogens to major global carbon sources. In tropical monsoon settings, revised temperature proxies based on branched glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraethers now correct for bacterial community influences in haloalkaline lakes, resolving an underestimation of Holocene monsoon weakening by up to 2.7 °C. Elsewhere, a multiproxy calibration of Mg/Ca and δ¹⁸O in polar foraminifera isolates seawater carbonate-chemistry effects, demonstrating that marine polar amplification during the last glacial–interglacial transition has been underestimated by up to 3 ± 1 °C when carbon-system influences are neglected.

Topic trend for the past 5 years

The graph below shows the article count in Nature Index journals for geochemistry.

Technical terms

Isotope fractionation: Mass-dependent separation of isotopes between phases or species, used to trace temperatures, fluid sources and reaction pathways.

Geochemical proxy: A measurable chemical parameter in a material (e.g. lipid biomarker, isotope ratio, element ratio) that quantitatively reflects past environmental or physicochemical conditions.

Branched GDGTs (brGDGTs): Membrane lipids produced by bacteria whose methylation and cyclisation patterns vary with ambient temperature and pH, used in palaeotemperature reconstructions.

Partition coefficient (Kd): Ratio of an element’s concentration in a solid phase to that in a coexisting fluid, indicating element compatibility during crystallisation, adsorption or uptake.

Fluid inclusion: A microscopic pocket of fluid trapped within a mineral grain that preserves temperature, pressure and composition information from the time of mineral growth.

Decarbonation: Release of CO₂ during metamorphic or magmatic breakdown of carbonate minerals under elevated temperature and pressure.

Notable articles in geochemistry

1. Primary N2–He gas field formation in intracratonic sedimentary basins. Nature (2023).
2. Adsorption of rare earth elements in regolith-hosted clay deposits. Nature Communications (2020).
3. Optimal CO2 intake in metastable water film in mesoporous materials. Nature Communications (2024).
4. Global aquifers dominated by fossil groundwaters but wells vulnerable to modern contamination. Nature Geoscience (2017).
5. An olivine-free mantle source of Hawaiian shield basalts. Nature (2005).

Position of Geochemistry in Nature Index by Count

Top 5 leading collaborators in Geochemistry

Collaborating institutions