This volume examines how kinetic (or rate) models are used to predict the rates of geochemical processes encountered in near-surface geological environments. Combining both roles as a reference work and standard textbook, the volume provides a comprehensive and systematic description of rate models and how they are derived from kinetic theory first-principles.
Presented in 10 main chapters, the author’s approach is to focus on the fundamental and (relatively) simple rate models that underpin and inform the coding ut
ilised in the computer modelling of rate processes (an extensive reference list is included to direct the reader to other current literature dealing with the associated computer modelling derivations if required).
The major topics covered include rate equations, reactor theory, transition state theory, surface reactivity, advective and diffusive transport, aggregation kinetics, nucleation kinetics and solid-solid transformation rates. The detailed mathematical derivation and theoretical basis for each model is presented and illustrated with appropriate worked examples from applications to real-world geochemical problems. Additionally, the volume is supported by on-line resources, including self-study problems (with their solutions) and data spreadsheets used in the text examples, allowing the reader to manipulate the data themselves and gain further appreciation and understanding of the rate models under consideration.
In general, all sections are well-written and edited, concisely laid-out with clear and appropriate figures and data-tables, features that one has come to expect from Cambridge University Press publications.
Providing a valuable and concise overview of the subject, the primary readership is anticipated to be advanced undergraduate and graduate geoscience students, but will additionally appeal to established researchers and practising geochemists as a reference source for scientific and technical problem solving.
The author’s 30 years of geochemical research and teaching experience is evident in the volume and this reader would definitely have benefitted from this book during my final year undergraduate geochemistry courses. A recommended read.
Reviewed by Mark Griffin
GEOCHEMICAL RATE MODELS - AN INTRODUCTION TO GEOCHEMICAL KINETICS
J. Donald Rimstidt. Cambridge University Press. 2014.
ISBN 978-1-107-02997-2. hbk 232pp.
List Price: £45.00