In geochemistry, by for the most important solvent is water. Any geochemist interested in lakes, oceans, estuaries, groundwaters, hydrothermal systems, water pollution problems or in interactions among the hydrosphere and the lithosphere or atmosphere must be concerned with properly characterizing aqueous solutions. In general, geochemists divide natural waters into three types: freshwaters (including rain, rivers, lakes and shallow groundwaters), seawater, and brines (including evaporative basins, many hydrothermal waters and deep groundwaters). Natural waters also may be intermediates between these types, formed by mixing (e.g. estuarine waters from seawater and river water) or by evaporation (e.g. a brine from partial evaporation of seawater). The typical chemical characteristics of natural waters are shown in Table A1.
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Cross-references
Acid deposition; Acids and bases; Calorimetry; Chelation; Clay membrances; Earth's ocean geochemistry; Fluid–rock interaction; Fluids in volcanic and plutonic environments; Geochemistry: low temperature; Gibbs–Duhem equation; Hydrothermal solutions; Sedimentary fluids; Standard states; Stoichiometry; Thixotropy; Water; Water: fresh
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Burton, E.A. (1998). Aqueous solutions . In: Geochemistry. Encyclopedia of Earth Science. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/1-4020-4496-8_12
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