A Review of the International Geochemical Conference: Goldschmidt 2011

On the basis of Goldschmidt 2011, the advantages of geochemistry research are reviewed in three separate parts. The first parts is a review of five plenary presentations, which includes mainly volatiles in the mantle and deep earth, the last deglaciation and its impact on rivers, exoplanet atmospheres, microbial partnerships and methane-oxidation in deep sea. The second part has 23 themes, which mainly includes cosmochemistry, planet and earth formation, evolution and dynamics of the deep earth, ocean ridge and intraplate volcanism, continental crust formation and evolution, evolution of the earth's environment, interfaces and interfacial processes from the nano- to the continental scale, climate change, atmospheric aerosols, oceans atmosphere, and geochemical impacts of human activity; the main research fields in each theme are described briefly. The subject matter for the third part of the review is biogeochemistry, in which biogeochemical cycling, organic matter turnover, methane cycling in marine and terrestrial environments, microbial catalysis of mineral dissolution and precipitation, bioavailability of trace elements in contaminated environments, biogeochemical processes in redox-dominated environments are the focus for discussion.