Materials circulation in Earth’s mantle will be modified if partial melting occurs in the transition zone. Melting in the transition zone is plausible if a significant amount of incompatible components is present in Earth’s mantle. We review the experimental data on melting and melt density and conclude that melting is likely under a broad range of conditions, although conditions for dense melt...

A novel methodology to evaluate uncertainties in lunar element abundances is presented. Contrary to most terrestrial applications, lunar GIS data cannot be verified by in-situ measurements due to the limited number of ground control points and their reduced spatial extend. This investigation evaluates the uncertainty in lunar element abundance measurements without the use of groundchecks but by...

The Grímsvötn volcanic eruption, from 21 to 28 May, 2011, was the largest eruption of the Grímsvötn Volcanic System since 1873, with a Volcanic Explosivity Index (VEI) of magnitude 4. The main geochemical features of the potential environmental impact of the volcanic ash-water interaction were determined using two different leaching methods as proxies (batch and vertical flow-through column exp...

Lacustrine deposits at the margin of the southeastern Tibetan Plateau (SETP) are sensitive indicators for the evolution of the southwest Asian monsoon (SWAM) during the Quaternary. Thus, they can provide insight into the Quaternary climatic history and their relationship with global climatic changes. The results of the geochemical analysis of the Xiaozhongdian Basin section at the SETP suggest ...

Major and minor elements of successively collected 70 Middle Triassic radiolarian bedded cherts from the Mino Belt in central Japan were studied. In order to reveal pre-diagenetic, primary geochemical signatures related to marine biogeochemical cycles, composite data of chert-shale couplets in addition to raw data were examined. The results show that Mn, Cu, Sr, Ba and P were supplied significa...

The redox-sensitive geochemical behavior of uranium permits the use of Th/U ratios as a geochemical proxy for the oxidation state of the atmosphere and oceans during sedimentary processes. Due to the effects of post-depositional uranium mobility on Th/U ratios during events involving oxygenated fluids, direct measurements of Th/U ratios are often misleading, but the whole rock Pb isotope compos...

The Dublin SURGE (Soil Urban Geochemistry) Project is Dublin's first baseline survey of heavy metals and persistent organic pollutants in topsoils and is part of a Europe-wide initiative to map urban geochemical baselines in ten cities. 1,058 samples were collected as part of a stratified random sampling programme in the greater Dublin area to give an overview of baseline conditions in the city...