The course aims to provide students with adequate knowledge and understanding of the chemical processes associated with the main geological processes, as well as with the fundamentals of basic scientific and technical language.

Knowledge and Understanding

By the end of the course, students will be able to:

• Describe the chemical and physical characteristics of crystalline solids, silicate melts, and aqueous and gaseous phases.

Applying Knowledge and Understanding

By the end of the course, students will be able to:

• Apply chemical and physical approaches to the analysis and description of geological processes;
• Apply chemical and physical approaches to solving problems aimed at scientific research or relevant to the professional practice of geology.

Making Judgements

By the end of the course, students will be able to:

• Critically assess the potential and limitations of geochemistry in relation to geological and environmental contexts.

Communication Skills

By the end of the course, students will be able to:

• Effectively communicate technical and scientific results and assessments using appropriate terminology;
• Synthesize information from scientific sources, experimental data, and case studies.

Learning Skills

Students will develop the ability to:

• Retrieve, analyze, and critically evaluate data and information from specialized sources;
• Update and expand their knowledge in the field of geochemistry.

42 hours (6 CFU) of lectures

• Cosmochemistry
• Structure and composition of the Earth
• Geochemistry of natural melts
• Trace element geochemistry
• Gas geochemistry
• Fundamentals of isotope geochemistry

• Albarede (2003). Geochemistry – An Introduction. Cambridge University Press, 262 pp.
• Faure (1986). Principles of Isotope Geology (2^nd Ed.). John Wiley and Sons, 589 pp.
• McSween e Huss (2010). Cosmochemistry. Cambridge University Press, 549 pp.
• Rollinson (1993). Using Geochemical Data. Longaman, 352 pp.
• White (2013). Geochemistry. Wiley-Blackwell, 660 pp.