Editorial http://pubs.acs.org/journal/aesccq
Welcome to ACS Earth and Space Chemistry synchrotron X-ray spectroscopy, accelerator mass spectrometry, secondary ion mass spectrometry, atomic force microscopy, computational quantum chemistry, and many other modern analytical techniques. This new journal will emphasize the chemical aspects of interdisciplinary earth and space research to a greater extent than other journals, and it will provide a forum for discussing the application of chemistry methodologies across the Earth, atmosphere, ocean, and space sciences. Collaborations between chemists and earth and space scientists are sometimes hampered by notable voids in appropriate publishing venues. Joel Blum recalls anecdotally a collaborative project that he was engaged in with the materials chemistry group at a U.S. National Laboratory. A newly developed surface science instrumental technique was applied to investigate the formation of iron meteorites from protoplanetary bodies. There was no single journal that the group of collaborators felt was suitable to publish their results. They ultimately published one paper in Analytical Chemistry and a second paper in a geochemistry journal; however, the chemists did not feel entirely comfortable with the geochemistry journal, and the geochemists did not feel entirely comfortable with the chemistry journal. Had there been a journal similar to ACS Earth and Space Chemistry available at that time, we believe that it would have provided an ideal publishing venue. This is, of course, only one of many similar examples of the publishing void that will be filled by this new journal. The launch of ACS Earth and Space Chemistry presents an opportunity to deepen and expand the conversation about the integral role that chemistry plays in the study of fundamental and applied research in the fields of geology, astronomy, oceanography, and atmospheric science. Our aim is to rapidly establish ACS Earth and Space Chemistry as a preeminent forum for discussing the application of chemistry methodologies across this wide range of scientific fields. Sponsorship of the new journal by the ACS brings an important level of recognition and credibility from the field of chemistry to fields that apply chemistry to natural materials and processes. ACS Earth and Space Chemistry will consider manuscripts in the form of full articles, letters, and reviews. Special issues on select topics will also be produced, and proposals for such issues are welcomed. ACS Earth and Space Chemistry utilizes the many author benefits provided by ACS Publications, including more affordable open access options through participation in ACS AuthorChoice, rigorous and rapid editorial peer review overseen by research-active scientists, and timely publication using the Society’s award-winning Web and mobile publishing technologies, which enable the broad dissemination of ACS web edition journals to more than 5000 subscribing institutions worldwide. The first issue of ACS Earth and Space Chemistry has now been published online, and the rate of submissions is
For at least a decade, meetings of the American Chemical Society (ACS) have provided an important venue for symposia on many aspects of earth and space chemistry. Although ACS has 50 journals covering virtually all subdisciplines of chemistry, until now, there has been no ACS journal dedicated to the chemistry of natural materials and processes. In response to suggestions from the scientific community, the ACS recently launched the new journal ACS Earth and Space Chemistry, and today, we are proud to share with you the first issue. ACS Earth and Space Chemistry is a peer-reviewed, interdisciplinary journal that unites the diverse and global community of scientists who explore the complex chemistry of materials and processes that occur naturally on Earth and in space. We have divided earth and space research into six scientific domains, around which we organize the journal: Earth surface, Earth interior, atmosphere, ocean, space, and analytical methods. There is a large community of scientists investigating the chemistry of natural materials and processes, and ACS Earth and Space Chemistry is the first journal that brings together this community under the common theme of chemistry and with the prestige and quality of an ACS publication. We contend that the boundaries dividing the chemistry of the six scientific domains listed above are largely artificial because our science is strongly united by common chemical methods and principles. For example, scientists using synchrotron-based methods for characterizing sea-floor deposits have much in common with scientists using the same methods to study high-pressure mineral phases or atmospheric particles. Similarly, researchers developing stable metal isotope measurement techniques apply them to trace atmospheric pollutants as well as mineral reactions in the deep Earth, and spectroscopic measurements of distant stars have much in common with spectrometric methods used in analyses of trace metals in waters and in studies of atmospheric reactions. As a final example, reactive transport simulation models used to investigate chemical transport in soils and aquifers have much in common with the models used to study chemical transport in rocks during metamorphism and partial melting or models used to investigate global atmospheric chemistry. Modern earth and space chemistry has its home in a wide range of academic departments at universities and in a wide range of government and industry research laboratories around the world. We are excited that this new journal will unite and serve this community of chemistry researchers who have not traditionally published in the same journal but who share common research questions, methodologies, and insights and have much to learn from each other. The transfer of chemical expertise to the study of natural systems has a long history and accelerated in the 1950s and 1960s following the Manhattan Project, when many chemists focused their spectrometers away from the development of weapons and toward earth and space science. This trend was further stimulated by the establishment of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the space program. This tradition continues to this day with cooperation on the development of such methods as © 2017 American Chemical Society
Received: March 9, 2017 Published: March 16, 2017 1
DOI: 10.1021/acsearthspacechem.7b00021 ACS Earth Space Chem. 2017, 1, 1−2
ACS Earth and Space Chemistry
Editorial
accelerating. Our first seven articles accepted through the peer review process include a broad and interesting set of topics that include (1) the composition of brines under surface conditions of Europa, (2) electron-induced synthesis of formamide in condensed mixtures, (3) theoretical aspects of mineral weathering reaction kinetics and solute transport, (4) nitrogen isotopic fractionation during adsorption on silicate mineral surfaces, (5) pathways to formation of meteoritic glycine and methylamine, (6) the thermochemical properties and atmospheric lifetime of iodine oxides, and (7) interstellar implications of noble gas complexes. The journal editors hope that you find these initial articles engaging, and we look forward to seeing your submissions. The broad range of topics that we are interested in publishing can be found on the journal website by clicking on “About the Journal”. For ACS Earth and Space Chemistry to be a success, we need you to help, particularly in the early stages of the journal, by submitting your high-quality research manuscripts. We also welcome your comments, suggestions, and feedback about the research community’s newest journal.
Joel Blum, Editor in Chief University of Michigan
Eric Herbst, Associate Editor University of Virginia
Sumit Chakraborty, Associate Editor Ruhr-Universität Bochum
Chongxuan Liu, Associate Editor Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and Southern University of Science and Technology
Faye McNeill, Associate Editor
■
Columbia University
AUTHOR INFORMATION
ORCID
Joel Blum: 0000-0001-5389-8633 Notes
Views expressed in this editorial are those of the authors and not necessarily the views of the ACS.
2
DOI: 10.1021/acsearthspacechem.7b00021 ACS Earth Space Chem. 2017, 1, 1−2
