Geochemistry is the science that studies the chemical composition of the Earth and chemical changes in the Earth's makeup. The basic goals of geochemistry, as formulated in the 19th century by the Norwegian geologist Víctor M. Goldschmidt, are to determine the relative abundance of each element in the Earth, to discover why different elements are selectively concentrated in various parts of the Earth, and to discover the laws that govern these factors.
Modern geochemistry also includes the study of the origin of the Earth and the elements of which the Earth is composed. The term "geochemistry" was introduced in 1838 by the German chemist C. F Schonbein.
