interested scientists from related disciplines. Consequently, the second objective became the provision of a theoretical framework for the application of neodymium isotopic studies. Much of what this contains is not new, but it is drawn together here for the first time. At the time the writing was initiated, the literature of the field was still relatively limited. Over the past 5 years it has grown enormously. Considering the rate at which the writing progressed, it became clear that this could not be a fully up-to-date review and still reach completion. The selection of material for the review sections is biased toward earlier studies. Part I presents most of the background information.