The unit will investigate the geochemical approaches used to understand the dynamics of the surface Earth, with an emphasis on geochemical archives preserved in ocean sediments. The class will be organised into three themes, each treating a different aspect of surface Earth chemistry and how it is recorded in archives - mainly ocean sediments but also including others such as ice-cores and loess.

In this course we present and discuss advanced topics in geochemistry based on the critical reading of research papers. Themes include hydrothermal geochemistry, isotopes in meterorites, low temperature geochemistry and biogeochemistry.