Distribution of the Elements in Some Major Units of the Earth's Crust
01 Feb 1961-Geological Society of America Bulletin (Geological Society of America)-Vol. 72, Iss: 2, pp 175-192
TL;DR: A table of abundances of the elements in the various major units of the Earth's lithic crust with a documentation of the sources and a discussion of the choice of units and data is presented in this article.
Abstract: This paper presents a table of abundances of the elements in the various major units of the Earth's lithic crust with a documentation of the sources and a discussion of the choice of units and data.
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01 Jun 1989
TL;DR: The chemical composition of natural water is derived from many different sources of solutes, including gases and aerosols from the atmosphere, weathering and erosion of rocks and soil, solution or precipitation reactions occurring below the land surface, and cultural effects resulting from human activities.
Abstract: The chemical composition of natural water is derived from many different sources of solutes, including gases and aerosols from the atmosphere, weathering and erosion of rocks and soil, solution or precipitation reactions occurring below the land surface, and cultural effects resulting from human activities. Broad interrelationships among these processes and their effects can be discerned by application of principles of chemical thermodynamics. Some of the processes of solution or precipitation of minerals can be closely evaluated by means of principles of chemical equilibrium, including the law of mass action and the Nernst equation. Other processes are irreversible and require consideration of reaction mechanisms and rates. The chemical composition of the crustal rocks of the Earth and the composition of the ocean and the atmosphere are significant in evaluating sources of solutes in natural freshwater. The ways in which solutes are taken up or precipitated and the amounts present in solution are influenced by many environmental factors, especially climate, structure and position of rock strata, and biochemical effects associated with life cycles of plants and animals, both microscopic and macroscopic. Taken together and in application with the further influence of the general circulation of all water in the hydrologic cycle, the chemical principles and environmental factors form a basis for the developing science of natural-water chemistry. Fundamental data used in the determination of water quality are obtained by the chemical analysis of water samples in the laboratory or onsite sensing of chemical properties in the field. Sampling is complicated by changes in the composition of moving water and by the effects of particulate suspended material. Some constituents are unstable and require onsite determination or sample preservation. Most of the constituents determined are reported in gravimetric units, usually milligrams per liter or milliequivalents
6,271 citations
Cites background from "Distribution of the Elements in Som..."
...Among the better known more recent estimates and compilations are those of Fleischer (1953,1954), Turekian and Wedepohl(1961) Taylor (1964), Parker (1967), and Wedepohl (1969)....
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TL;DR: In this article, a sedimentological risk index for toxic substances in limnic systems should at least, account for the following four requirements: the following: the quality of the sediment, the water quality, the sediment quality, and the sediment diversity.
6,177 citations
01 Jan 1980
TL;DR: In this paper, the essential roles of arsenic, fluorine, nickel, silicon, tin and vanadium have in recent years been established in animal nutrition, and they are known as trace elements, minor elements or micro-nutrients.
Abstract: Fifteen or more elements present in rocks and soils normally in very small amounts are essential for plant and/or animal nutrition. By the nature of their low abundance in natural uncontaminated earth materials or plants, they are known as trace elements, minor elements or micro-nutrients. Boron, copper, iron, manganese, molybdenum, silicon, vanadium and zinc are required by plants; copper, cobalt, iodine, iron, manganese, molybdenum, selenium and zinc by animals. In addition essential roles of arsenic, fluorine, nickel, silicon, tin and vanadium have in recent years been established in animal nutrition.
3,339 citations
TL;DR: This review deals with environmental origin, occurrence, episodes, and impact on human health of arsenic, a metalloid occurs naturally, being the 20th most abundant element in the earth's crust.
3,166 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a table of element abundances in the continental crust, calculated on the basis of a 1:1 mixture of granite and basalt abundances, is presented.
2,460 citations
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TL;DR: The chemical and mineralogical composition of pelagic sediments from the East Pacific Ocean has been determined with the aim of defining the ultimate sources and the mechanisms of formation of the solid phases.
781 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the average chemical compositions for the common plutonic rock types and their volcanic equivalents are given for the general average chemical composition of silicic, intermediate, subsilicic and ultramafic igneous rocks.
Abstract: Average chemical compositions are given for the common plutonic rock types and their volcanic equivalents. An attempt has been made also to give the general average chemical compositions of silicic, intermediate, subsilicic and ultramafic igneous rocks
681 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the distribution of some of the commoner trace elements with respect to the major elements in various igneous rock series is discussed. But the present communication deals with certain calc-alkali igneous rocks series, namely, the rocks of the Southern California batholith, the lavas of Lassen Peak, Crater Lake, the Lesser Antilles, the Medicine Lake Highlands and the East Central Sierra Nevada.
380 citations
TL;DR: More than 200 new thorium and uranium determinations have been made by gamma-ray spectral technique and by an alpha activityfluorometric uranium technique as discussed by the authors, and these two independent techniques can be used as an experimental test of secular radioactive equilibrium.
Abstract: Because of analytical difficulties, few data are available on the thorium and uranium contents of sedimentary rocks. More than 200 new thorium and uranium determinations have been made by gamma-ray spectral technique and by an alpha activity-fluorometric uranium technique. Together these two independent techniques can be used as an experimental test of secular radioactive equilibrium. Only rarely in this study have fresh samples of ancient sedimentary rocks been found out of radioactive equilibrium. The accuracy of the thorium-to-uranium ratio determinations is more than sufficient for many geologic studies. The thorium-to-uranium ratios in sedimentary rocks range from less than 0.02 to more than 21. Ratios in many oxidized continental deposits are above 7, whereas most marine deposits have ratios much below 7. Thus, the thorium-to-uranium ratio varies with sedimentary processing and depositional environment. A cyclothem and several other sedimentary sequences illustrate the use of this ratio to distinguish environments and processes. The thorium content of shales varies much less than the uranium content. By mineral and trace-element analysis an attempt has been made to evaluate the resistate, hydrolyzate, clay, and precipitate (evaporite) contributions to the thorium and uranium contents of sedimentary rocks. These data also provide some insight into the details of the mobilization, tra sportation, and fixation of thorium and uranium in the sedimentary cycle. Field tests indicate that quantitative potassium, uranium, and thorium determinations can be made with a spectral gamma-ray logging instrument. Logs obtained with such instruments may provide an important additional means for subsurface interpretations.
268 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the isotopic composition of strontium and of the concentration of K, Rb, Cs, U, Ba, and Cs were determined for a chondritic earth model.
Abstract: New determinations of the isotopic composition of strontium and of the concentration of K, Rb, Cs, Sr, and Ba rocks and meteorites are given. The isotopic abundance of Sr87 in the upper mantle and the crust appears to be lower than that found for chondrites. Furthermore, for a chondritic earth model, the concentrations of potassium, rubidium, and cesium in the earth's crust are anomalous when compared with those of uranium, barium, and strontium. These two concurring arguments indicate that the upper mantle and crust of the earth do not contain K, Rb, Cs, U, Ba, and Sr, in the proportions found in chondrites, and that the alkali metals are depleted relative to U, Sr, and Ba. This depletion may be an indication of a nonchondritic earth composition; it may also result from an earth differentiation in which K, Rb, and Cs were concentrated or retained in the lower mantle.
256 citations