Editing Geochemistry (section)

==History==
[[File:Victorgoldschmidt0006MA8633570-0001.jpg|thumb|[[Victor Goldschmidt]] (1909)]]
The term ''geochemistry'' was first used by the Swiss-German chemist [[Christian Friedrich Schönbein]] in 1838: "a comparative geochemistry ought to be launched, before geognosy can become geology, and before the mystery of the genesis of our planets and their inorganic matter may be revealed."<ref name=Buildingbridges>{{cite book|first= Helge|last= Kragh|chapter= From geochemistry to cosmochemistry: The origin of a scientific discipline, 1915–1955|title= Chemical Sciences in the 20th Century: Bridging Boundaries|editor-last= Reinhardt|editor-first= Carsten|date= 2008|publisher= John Wiley & Sons|isbn= 978-3-527-30271-0|pages= 160–192|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=gIOK5EUm5ysC|access-date= 2020-05-03|archive-date= 2023-01-17|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20230117100436/https://books.google.com/books?id=gIOK5EUm5ysC|url-status= live}}</ref> However, for the rest of the century the more common term was "chemical geology", and there was little contact between [[geologist]]s and [[chemist]]s.<ref name=Buildingbridges/>

Geochemistry emerged as a separate discipline after major laboratories were established, starting with the [[United States Geological Survey]] (USGS) in 1884, which began systematic surveys of the chemistry of rocks and minerals. The chief USGS chemist, [[Frank Wigglesworth Clarke]], noted that the elements generally decrease in abundance as their atomic weights increase, and summarized the work on elemental abundance in ''The Data of Geochemistry''.<ref name=Buildingbridges/><ref name=McSween>{{cite book|last1=McSween|first1=Harry Y. Jr.|last2=Richardson|first2=Steven M.|last3=Uhle|first3=Maria E.|title=Geochemistry pathways and processes|date=2003|publisher=Columbia University|location=New York|isbn=9780231509039|edition=2nd}}</ref>{{rp|2}}

The composition of [[meteorites]] was investigated and compared to terrestrial rocks as early as 1850. In 1901, [[Oliver C. Farrington]] hypothesised that, although there were differences, the relative abundances should still be the same.<ref name=Buildingbridges/>  This was the beginnings of the field of [[cosmochemistry]] and has contributed much of what we know about the formation of the Earth and the Solar System.<ref name="Cornell">{{cite book|title= Geochemistry (Unpublished)|last= White|first= William M.|page= 1|url= http://www.geo.cornell.edu/geology/classes/geo455/Chapters.HTML|access-date= 14 March 2012|archive-date= 16 June 2014|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140616205643/http://www.geo.cornell.edu/geology/classes/geo455/Chapters.HTML|url-status= live}}</ref>

In the early 20th century, [[Max von Laue]] and [[William L. Bragg]] showed that X-ray scattering could be used to determine the structures of crystals. In the 1920s and 1930s, [[Victor Goldschmidt]] and associates at the [[University of Oslo]] applied these methods to many common minerals and formulated a set of rules for how elements are grouped. Goldschmidt published this work in the series  ''Geochemische Verteilungsgesetze der Elemente'' [Geochemical Laws of the Distribution of Elements].<ref name=McSween/>{{rp|2}}<ref>{{cite book|last1=Mason|first1=Brian|title=Victor Moritz Goldschmidt : father of modern geochemistry|date=1992|publisher=Geochemical Society|location=San Antonio, Tex.|isbn=0-941809-03-X}}</ref>

The research of [[Manfred Schidlowski]] from the 1960s to around the year 2002 was concerned with the biochemistry of the [[Early Earth]] with a focus on isotope-biogeochemistry and the evidence of the earliest life processes in [[Precambrian]].<ref>[[Manfred Schidlowski]]: ''[https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0301926800001285?via%3Dihub Carbon isotopes as biochemical recorders of life over 3.8 Ga of Earth history: Evolution of a concept] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211208230235/https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0301926800001285?via%3Dihub |date=2021-12-08 }}''. In: Precambrian Research. Vol. 106, Issues 1-2, 1 February 2001, pages 117-134.</ref><ref>Harald Strauss: ’’[https://e-docs.geo-leo.de/bitstream/handle/11858/8243/Gmit_50.pdf?sequence=3&isAllowed=y Obituary] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211208230237/https://e-docs.geo-leo.de/bitstream/handle/11858/8243/Gmit_50.pdf?sequence=3&isAllowed=y |date=2021-12-08 }}’’. In: Geowissenschaftiche Mitteilungen, Nr. 50, december 2012, page 102-103</ref>