The study of the global distribution and the migration of a particular element, mineral, or compound, including the amount liberated by weathering and transported to the Earth sediments and oceans: One example of geochemical balance can be exemplified by the distribution of quartz in igneous rocks, its liberation by weathering, and its redistribution into sediments and in solutions, into lakes, rivers, and oceans.

Sediments refer to solid fragments of inorganic or organic material that come from the weathering (disintegration and decomposition) of rock and are carried and deposited by wind, water, or ice.