David Burdige makes a very important contribution to the geochemical library with this comprehensive textbook. He sets out to provide the reader with a broad view of the fundamentals of marine sediment geochemistry and a quantitative view of geochemical processes occurring in recent marine sediments. He succeeds by producing a thoroughly researched, clearly structured and well written review. Unusually for a non-specialist organic geochemical tome, he has placed significant effort into introducing and educating the reader to understand that organic matter remineralization plays a pivotal role in many of the diagenetic reactions occurring in recent marine sediments.

In Chapters 2 to 6 there is a basic introduction to the study of marine geochemistry; quantitative process models are introduced in Chapter 7; while in Chapters 7 to 12 a more detailed examination of diagenetic reactions, their thermodynamics and kinetics, the reactivity of components of the sediments and the influence of external factors, such as bioturbation, are covered. Finally in Chapters 13 to 17 Burdige examines specific processes occurring in pelagic and continental margin sediments, including discussion on the controls on organic carbon preservation in marine sediments, the CO₂ system and sulphur and trace metal cycling.

When I received the book for review I was concerned that in an attempt to cover the very broad subject of marine geochemistry in some depth, the text could potentially fall between two stools: not comprehensive enough to be classed as a high-level text, while too detailed for the part-time geochemist. I needn't have worried; the introductory chapters are excellent and having read the sections on organic geochemistry, where I have some knowledge, I would have found it difficult to argue that the material presented was not a comprehensive review and did not provide insight into the subject. David Burdige has successfully bridged the gap between the disciplines of organic and inorganic geochemistry; his chapter linking sediment organic geochemistry with diagenesis was particularly useful. I made a point when reading the book, of trying to learn about things less close to my heart, such as models of bioturbation and bioirrigation, and found that despite my ignorance I was able to follow and understand the subject. I am sure that students will find it to be a user-friendly, extremely helpful text. My only complaint is that the format of the book is not ideal. I think it would work much better in larger size, with a clear distinction of figure legends and text, which in the present edition are sometimes poorly separated.

I will certainly be recommending this textbook to my students, both specialist undergraduates and postgraduates new to geochemistry. It is an excellent introduction to the subject.