Preface

This textbook grew out of a set of class notes developed for teaching an introductory course on the chemistry of the sea to successive classes of beginning graduate students in oceanography, and to a few undergraduates. Students enter marine science from a wide variety of disciplines; I have not assumed an advanced knowledge of chemistry nor, indeed, of any single science. The book is intended to be accessible to anyone with some exposure to chemistry, physics, and biology (such as would be the case for most people with a degree in a natural science), as well as a little geology. It might be helpful if the reader has previously seen one or more of the many excellent books that provide a general description of the oceans or has otherwise acquired a similar overview.

The coverage is intended to provide an introduction appropriate for most students of marine science, as well as a general base from which the professional marine chemist can go forward to specialized studies. A rather large number of references provides an entrée to reviews, textbooks, and more specialized literature. Tables of numerical values and constants, provided in the Appendix, will be useful to oceanographers and other environmental scientists.