Relative Abundances of the Elements on Earth and in the Known Universe

The relative abundances of the elements in the known universe and on Earth relative to silicon are shown in Figure 1.1. The data are estimates based on the characteristic emission spectra of the elements in stars, the absorption spectra of matter in clouds of interstellar dust, and the approximate composition of Earth as measured by geologists. The data in Figure 1.1 illustrate two important points. First, except for hydrogen, the most abundant elements have even atomic numbers. Not only is this consistent with the trends in nuclear stability  but it also suggests that heavier elements are formed by combining helium nuclei (Z = 2). Second, the relative abundances of the elements in the known universe and on Earth are often very different, as indicated by the data in Table 1.1 for some common elements. Some of these differences are easily explained. For example, nonmetals such as H, He, C, N, O, Ne, and Kr are much less abundant relative to silicon on Earth than they are in the rest of the universe. These elements are either noble gases (He, Ne, and Kr) or elements that form volatile hydrides, such as NH₃, CH₄, and H₂O. Because Earth’s gravity is not strong enough to hold such light substances in the atmosphere, these elements have been slowly diffusing into outer space ever since our planet was formed. Argon is an exception; it is relatively abundant on Earth compared with the other noble gases because it is continuously produced in rocks by the radioactive decay of isotopes such as ⁴⁰K. In contrast, many metals, such as Al, Na, Fe, Ca, Mg, K, and Ti, are relatively abundant on Earth because they form nonvolatile compounds, such as oxides, that cannot escape into space. Other metals, however, are much less abundant on Earth than in the universe; some examples are Ru and Ir. You may recall from Chapter 1 that the anomalously high iridium content of a 66-million-year-old rock layer was a key finding in the development of the asteroid-impact theory for the extinction of the dinosaurs. This section explains some of the reasons for the great differences in abundances of the metallic elements.

Table 1.1 Relative Abundances of Elements on Earth and in the Known Universe

All the elements originally present on Earth (and on other planets) were synthesized from hydrogen and helium nuclei in the interiors of stars that have long since exploded and disappeared. Six of the most abundant elements in the universe (C, O, Ne, Mg, Si, and Fe) have nuclei that are integral multiples of the helium-4 nucleus, which suggests that helium-4 is the primary building block for heavier nuclei.