This book on Marine Radioactivity sets out to cover most of the aspects of marine radioactivity which have been the focus of scientific study in recent decades. The authors and their reviews divide into topic areas which have defined the field over its history. They cover the suite of natural radioisotopes which have been present in the oceans since their formation and quantitatively dominate the inventory of radioactivity in the oceans. Also addressed are the suite of artificial radionuclides introduced to the oceans as a consequence of the use of the atom for development of nuclear energy, nuclear weapons and various applications of nuclear science. The major source of these continues to derive from the global fallout of atmospheric tests of nuclear weapons in the 1950s and 1960s but also includes both planned and accidental releases of radioactivity from both civilian and military nuclear technology. The other division of the major study direction depends on whether the objective is to use the radionuclides as powerful tools to study oceanic processes, to describe and understand the ocean distribution of the various natural or artificial radionuclides or to assess the different radionuclides' impact on and pathways to man or marine organisms. The oceans cover 70% of the Earth's surface and thus contains a corresponding large share of the Earth's radioactivity. Marine Radioactivity covers topics of recent scientific study in this young field. It examines both natural radioactivity (radioactivity naturally present in oceans since their formation) and artificial radioactivity (radioactivity introduced by man and use of atomic and nuclear energy) with regard to possible effects on the global environment.

The first edition of Marine Geochemistry received strongcritical acclaim, and the reviews included the comments that it'provides a benchmark in the field' and 'is clearly recognizable asa standard text for years to come'. Marine Geochemistry offers a fully comprehensive andintegrated treatment of the chemistry of the oceans, theirsediments and biota. It addresses the fundamental question 'How dothe oceans work as a chemical system?' by capitalizing on thesignificant advances in understanding oceanic processes made overthe past three decades. These advances have been facilitated byimproved sampling and analytical techniques, a better understandingof theoretical concepts and the instigation of large-sizedinternational oceanographic programs. Designed for use as a text, the book treats the oceans as a'unified system' in which material stored in the sea water, thesediment and the rock reservoirs interacts to control thecomposition of sea water itself. Part I covers the transport ofmaterial to the oceans via rivers, the atmosphere and hydrothermalsystems, and discusses their relative flux magnitudes. Part IIconsiders the oceans as a reservoir, introducing water-columnparameters before discussing water-column fluxes and the benthicboundary layer. Part III is devoted to the sediment reservoir. Thetopics covered include diagenesis, the major components of thesediments, and the processes controlling the geochemistry ofoceanic deposit, which are discussed in terms of sediment-formingsignals. Part IV offers an overview and synthesis of the integratedmarine geochemical system. Since the publication of the first edition, there have beenfurther significant advances in several areas of the subject. Therevised text of this edition accommodates these advances, whilestill retaining the emphasis on identifying key processes operatingwithin a 'unified ocean.' Special attention has been paid tofundamental conceptual changes, such as those related to tracemetal speciation in sea water, hydrothermal activity, carbondioxide and the importance of the oceans in world climate change,the transport of particulate material to the interior of the ocean,primary production and iron limitation, colloids, and thepreservation/destruction of organic matter in marine sediments. Intermediate and advanced students with interests in chemicaloceanography, marine geochemistry, marine biology and environmentalchemistry will welcome this revised comprehensive text. Otherstudents in the broader field of earth sciences will find it to bean essential reference source dealing with the interaction betweenthe atmosphere, the ocean and the solid earth. Incorporates all significant recent advances in thefield. 'Unified system' approach to ocean chemistry. Emphasises geological contexts, e.g. sediment diagenesis.