Preface
The multidisciplinary field of organic geochemistry is clamped by its core tool, the
organic analysis. The detection, identification and quantification of organic substances in the geosphere are a huge challenge. Organic compounds appear in
complex mixtures at partly very low concentrations down to ultra-traces and cover
a very wide range of properties, e.g. from lipophilic to polar substances or from lowmolecular-weight compounds to macromolecules. Additionally, natural and xenobiotic organic substances in the geosphere are characterized by a high molecular
diversity.
All these aspects require the complementary use of complex analytical methods.
Therefore, organic-geochemical analysis uses a broad spectrum of techniques and
approaches in varying systems. This volume as the fourth part of the book series
Fundamentals in Organic Geochemistry aims at giving a brief but comprehensive
introduction to these analytical techniques, the principal approaches of data interpretation and challenges and pitfalls organic geochemists are facing. The objective
of this volume is not only to allow students to obtain basic and broad insights into
analytical topics but also to start first steps in organic analysis.
Aachen, Germany
Jan Schwarzbauer
Belgrade, Serbia
Branimir Jovančićević
v
The multidisciplinary field of organic geochemistry is clamped by its core tool, the
organic analysis. The detection, identification and quantification of organic substances in the geosphere are a huge challenge. Organic compounds appear in
complex mixtures at partly very low concentrations down to ultra-traces and cover
a very wide range of properties, e.g. from lipophilic to polar substances or from lowmolecular-weight compounds to macromolecules. Additionally, natural and xenobiotic organic substances in the geosphere are characterized by a high molecular
diversity.
All these aspects require the complementary use of complex analytical methods.
Therefore, organic-geochemical analysis uses a broad spectrum of techniques and
approaches in varying systems. This volume as the fourth part of the book series
Fundamentals in Organic Geochemistry aims at giving a brief but comprehensive
introduction to these analytical techniques, the principal approaches of data interpretation and challenges and pitfalls organic geochemists are facing. The objective
of this volume is not only to allow students to obtain basic and broad insights into
analytical topics but also to start first steps in organic analysis.
Aachen, Germany
Jan Schwarzbauer
Belgrade, Serbia
Branimir Jovančićević
v