Geochemistry Formulae For more visit: https://geologyconcepts.

com

1. Concentration:
𝑚𝑔 𝑚𝑎𝑠𝑠𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑠𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑡𝑒 (𝑚𝑔)
 =
𝐿 𝑉𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑠𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 (𝐿)
𝑚𝑔 𝑚𝑎𝑠𝑠𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑠𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑡𝑒 (𝑚𝑔)
 𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑠 𝑝𝑒𝑟 𝑚𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑖𝑜𝑛 (𝑝𝑝𝑚) = =
𝑘𝑔 𝑚𝑎𝑠𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑠𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 (𝑘𝑔)
𝑚𝑔 𝑚𝑔 1
 = ×
𝑘𝑔 𝐿 𝜌
𝑚𝑜𝑙𝑒𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑠𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑡𝑒 (𝑚𝑔)
 𝑀𝑜𝑙𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑦 (𝑀) = 𝑉𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑠𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 (𝐿)
𝑚𝑜𝑙𝑒𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑠𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑡𝑒 (𝑚𝑔)
 𝑀𝑜𝑙𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑦 (𝑚) = 1 𝑘𝑔 𝑜𝑓 𝑠𝑜𝑙𝑣𝑒𝑛𝑡
𝑚𝑜𝑙𝑒𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑒𝑠
 𝑀𝑜𝑙𝑒 𝑓𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 (𝑋) = 𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑚𝑜𝑙𝑒𝑠
𝐸𝑞𝑢𝑖𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑠
 = 𝑁𝑜𝑟𝑚𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑦 (𝑁) = 𝑀𝑜𝑙𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑦(𝑀) × 𝑛 − 𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑜𝑟
𝐿
2. Thermodynamics and other chemical formulae:
−∆ 𝐺°
 𝑟
log 𝐾𝑠𝑝 = 2.303𝑅𝑇
𝐼𝐴𝑃
 𝑆𝑎𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑖𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑥, 𝑆𝐼 = log (𝐾 ) ; 𝐼𝐴𝑃 𝑖𝑠 𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑑𝑢𝑐𝑡
𝑠𝑝

SI = 0 (water is saturated w.r.t. mineral)

SI < 0 (water is under-saturated w.r.t. mineral)
SI > 0 (water is super-saturated w.r.t. mineral)
∆𝑟 𝐻° 1 1
 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑉𝑎𝑛′𝑡 𝐻𝑜𝑓𝑓 𝐸𝑞𝑢𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛, log 𝐾𝑇2 = log 𝐾𝑇1 + ( − )
2.303𝑅𝑇 𝑇1 𝑇2
0.0591
 𝑜
𝑁𝑒𝑟𝑛𝑠𝑡 𝐸𝑞𝑢𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛, 𝐸𝑐𝑒𝑙𝑙 = 𝐸𝑐𝑒𝑙𝑙 − log 𝑄 ; 𝑄 𝑖𝑠 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑞𝑜𝑢𝑡𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑡
𝑛
1
 𝐼𝑜𝑛𝑖𝑐 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑡ℎ, 𝐼 = 2 ∑(𝑀𝑖 𝑍𝑖 2 ) ; 𝑀 𝑖𝑠 𝑚𝑜𝑙𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑍 𝑖𝑠 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑔𝑒 𝑜𝑛 𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑒𝑠
−𝐴𝑍𝑖2√𝐼
 log 𝛾𝑖 = ; 𝛾𝑖 𝑖𝑠 𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑐𝑜𝑒𝑓𝑓𝑖𝑐𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑡. 𝐴𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑖𝑡𝑦, 𝑎𝑖 = 𝛾𝑖 𝑀𝑖
1+𝐵𝑎𝑜 √𝐼

𝐴 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐵 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑓𝑢𝑛𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑓 𝑇 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑃, 𝑎𝑜 𝑖𝑠 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑐𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑎𝑐ℎ

 Work done relation:

Isobaric, W = -p∆V; Isochoric, W = 0;
Isothermal, W = -nRT ln(V2/V1) = -nRT ln(P1/P2);
(1−𝛾) (1−𝛾)
𝑃𝑉 𝛾 (𝑉𝑓 −𝑉𝑖 )
Adiabatic, 𝑊 = 1−𝛾

 Entropy relation:
Isobaric, S = Cp ln(T2/T1);
Isochoric, S = Cv ln(T2/T1);
 Isothermal, S = nR ln(V2/V1);
𝑉 𝑃
Adiabatic, 𝑆 = 𝐶𝑝 𝑙𝑛 (𝑉2 ) + 𝐶𝑣 𝑙𝑛 (𝑃2 )
1 1

3. Chemical kinetics:
𝑑𝐶
 𝑍𝑒𝑟𝑜𝑡ℎ − 𝑜𝑟𝑑𝑒𝑟 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒, − 𝑑𝑡 = 𝑘; 𝐶 = 𝑘𝑡
𝑑𝐶
 𝐹𝑖𝑟𝑠𝑡 𝑜𝑟𝑑𝑒𝑟 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒, − 𝑑𝑡 = 𝑘𝐶; 𝐶 = 𝐶𝑜 𝑒 −𝑘𝑡 ;

0.693
𝑇1 = ; 𝑇1 𝑖𝑠 ℎ𝑎𝑙𝑓 − 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒, 𝑘 𝑖𝑠 𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑡
2 𝑘 2

1
𝜏= ; 𝜏 𝑖𝑠 𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒
𝑘
𝐸𝑎
 𝑘 = 𝑘𝑜 𝑒 −𝑅𝑇 ; 𝐸𝑎 𝑖𝑠 𝐴𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑔𝑦

4. Equilibrium and Fractional crystallization and melting

Equilibrium or Batch crystallization

𝐶𝑙 1
 = [𝐹(1−𝐾
𝐶𝑙 𝑜 𝑑 )+𝐾𝑑 ]
𝐶𝑠 𝐾𝑑
 = [𝐹(1−𝐾
𝐶𝑙 𝑜 𝑑 )+𝐾𝑑 ]

Fractional crystallization
𝐶𝑙
 = 𝐹 (𝐾𝑑−1)
𝐶𝑙 𝑜
𝐶𝑠
 = 𝐾𝑑 𝐹 (𝐾𝑑−1)
𝐶𝑙 𝑜

𝐹 𝑖𝑠 𝑓𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑓 𝑚𝑒𝑙𝑡 𝑟𝑒𝑚𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔

𝐶𝑙 𝑖𝑠 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑓 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑙𝑖𝑞𝑢𝑖𝑑
𝐶𝑙 𝑜 𝑖𝑠 𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑎𝑙 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑙𝑖𝑞𝑢𝑖𝑑
𝐶𝑠 𝑖𝑠 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑜𝑙𝑖𝑑
𝐾𝑑 𝑖𝑠 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑏𝑢𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑐𝑜𝑒𝑓𝑓𝑖𝑐𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡

Equilibrium or Batch melting

𝐶𝑙 1
 = [𝐹(1−𝑃)+𝐷
𝐶𝑠 𝑜 𝑜]
𝐶𝑙 𝐷0
 = [𝐹(1−𝑃)+𝐷
𝐶𝑠 𝑜 𝑜]
 Fractional or Rayleigh melting
1
𝐶𝑙 1 [ −1]
 𝑀𝑜𝑑𝑎𝑙 𝑓𝑟𝑎𝑐. 𝑚𝑒𝑙𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔, = [𝐷 ] [1 − 𝐹] 𝐷𝑜
𝐶𝑠 𝑜 𝑜

𝐶𝑙 1 𝑃𝐹 1
 𝑁𝑜𝑛 − 𝑚𝑜𝑑𝑎𝑙 𝑓𝑟𝑎𝑐. 𝑚𝑒𝑙𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔, 𝑜 = [𝐷 ] [1 − 𝐷 ][𝑃−1]
𝐶𝑠 𝑜 𝑜

P = kda x (fraction of mineral a in melting assemblage) + kdb x (frac. of min. b in

in melting assemblage) + kdc x (frac. of min. c in melting assemblage) + …

Do = kda x (fraction of mineral a in unmelted source) + kdb x (frac. of min. b in

unmelted source) + kdc x (frac. of min. c in unmelted source) + …

For Modal melting, P = Do

For Non-Modal melting, P ≠Do

𝐹 𝑖𝑠 𝑓𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑓 𝑠𝑜𝑙𝑖𝑑 𝑚𝑒𝑙𝑡𝑒𝑑 or liquid formed

𝐶𝑙 𝑖𝑠 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑓 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑙𝑖𝑞𝑢𝑖𝑑
𝐶𝑙 𝑜 𝑖𝑠 𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑎𝑙 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑙𝑖𝑞𝑢𝑖𝑑
𝐶𝑠 𝑖𝑠 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑜𝑙𝑖𝑑
𝐾𝑑 𝑖𝑠 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑏𝑢𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑐𝑜𝑒𝑓𝑓𝑖𝑐𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡

5. Isotope Geology
 For a radioactive reaction, A → B, λ is the rate or decay constant
𝐵 𝐵 𝐴
( ′ ) = ( ′ ) + ( ′ ) (𝑒 𝜆𝑡 − 1); 𝐵′ 𝑖𝑠 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒 𝑛𝑜𝑛 − 𝑟𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑜𝑔𝑒𝑛𝑖𝑐 𝑖𝑠𝑜𝑡𝑜𝑝𝑒
𝐵 𝑡 𝐵 𝑜 𝐵 𝑡
 K-Ar dating
∗
𝐴𝑟 40 ∗
𝑡 = 1.804 × 10 ln [9.540 40 + 1] ; 𝐴𝑟 40 𝑖𝑠 𝑟𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑜𝑔𝑒𝑛𝑖𝑐 𝐴𝑟𝑔𝑜𝑛 − 40
9
𝐾
∗
10
𝐴𝑟 40
𝑡 ≈ 1.72 × 10
𝐾 40
 Stable isotope geology
𝑂18 𝑂18
( ) − ( )
𝑂16 𝑠𝑎𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑂16 𝑆𝑀𝑂𝑊
𝛿 18 𝑂𝑆𝑀𝑂𝑊 = × 103
𝑂18
( 16 )
[ 𝑂 𝑆𝑀𝑂𝑊
]
18 18
𝛿 𝑂𝑃𝐷𝐵 = 1.03086 𝛿 𝑂𝑆𝑀𝑂𝑊 + 30.86

 Fractionation factor, α = RA/RB ; R = 18O/16O

 Enrichment factor, ∆𝐴−𝐵 = 𝛿 18 𝑂𝐴 − 𝛿 18 𝑂𝐵
 ∆ ≈ (𝛼 − 1)103 ≈ 103 ln 𝛼