Abundance of elements in Earth's crust

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The abundance of elements in Earth's crust is shown in tabulated form with the estimated crustal abundance for each chemical element shown as mg/kg, or parts per million (ppm) by mass (10,000 ppm = 1%).

Reservoirs

The Earth's crust is one "reservoir" for measurements of abundance. A reservoir is any large body to be studied as unit, like the ocean, atmosphere, mantle or crust. Different reservoirs may have different relative amounts of each element due to different chemical or mechanical processes involved in the creation of the reservoir.[1]: 18 

Difficulties in measurement

Estimates of elemental abundance are difficult because (a) the composition of the upper and lower crust are quite different, and (b) the composition of the continental crust can vary drastically by locality.[2] The composition of the Earth changed after its formation due to loss of volatile compounds, melting and recrystalization, selective loss of some elements to the deep interior, and erosion by water.[3]: 55  The lanthanides are especially difficult to measure accurately.[4]

Graphs of abundance vs atomic number

Abundance (atom fraction) of the chemical elements in Earth's upper continental crust as a function of atomic number;[5] siderophiles shown in yellow

Graphs of abundance against atomic number can reveal patterns relating abundance to stellar nucleosynthesis and geochemistry. The alternation of abundance between even and odd atomic number is known as the Oddo–Harkins rule. The rarest elements in the crust are not the heaviest, but are rather the siderophile elements (iron-loving) in the Goldschmidt classification of elements. These have been depleted by being relocated deeper into the Earth's core; their abundance in meteoroids is higher. Tellurium and selenium are concentrated as sulfides in the core and have also been depleted by preaccretional sorting in the nebula that caused them to form volatile hydrogen selenide and hydrogen telluride.[6]

List of abundance by element

This table gives the estimated abundance in parts per million by mass of elements in the continental crust; values of the less abundant elements may vary with location by several orders of magnitude.[7]

Colour indicates each element's Goldschmidt classification:
Lithophile Siderophile Atmophile Chalcophile Trace
More information Most to Least, Z ...
Abundance of chemical elements in Earth's (continental) crust, by mass
Most to
Least		 Z Element Sym­bol Goldschmidt
classification		 Abundance (ppm)[7] Extraction
tonnes/year[8]
1. 8 oxygen O Lithophile 461,000 (46.1%) 10,335,000[9]
2. 14 silicon Si Lithophile 282,000 (28.2%) 7,200,000
3. 13 aluminium Al Lithophile 82,300 (8.23%) 57,600,000
4. 26 iron Fe Siderophile 56,300 (5.63%) 1,150,000,000
5. 20 calcium Ca Lithophile 41,500 (4.15%) 18,000
6. 11 sodium Na Lithophile 23,600 (2.36%) 255,000,000
7. 12 magnesium Mg Lithophile 23,300 (2.33%) 27,700,000
8. 19 potassium K Lithophile 20,900 (2.09%) 53,200,000[10]
9. 22 titanium Ti Lithophile 5,650 (0.565%) 6,600,000
10. 1 hydrogen H Atmophile 1,400 (0.14%) 75,000,000[11]
11. 15 phosphorus P Lithophile 1,050 (0.105%) 226,000,000[12]
12. 25 manganese Mn Lithophile 950 (0.095%) 16,000,000
13. 9 fluorine F Lithophile 585 (0.0585%) 17,000
14. 56 barium Ba Lithophile 425 (0.0425%) 6,000,000[13]
15. 38 strontium Sr Lithophile 370 (0.037%) 350,000
16. 16 sulfur S Chalcophile 350 (0.035%) 69,300,000
17. 6 carbon C Atmophile 200 (0.02%) 9,700,000,000
18. 40 zirconium Zr Lithophile 165 (0.0165%) 1,460,000
19. 17 chlorine Cl Lithophile 145 (0.0145%) 71,250,000[14]
20. 23 vanadium V Lithophile 120 (0.012%) 76,000
21. 24 chromium Cr Lithophile 102 (0.0102%) 26,000,000
22. 37 rubidium Rb Lithophile 90 (0.009%) 2
23. 28 nickel Ni Siderophile 84 (0.0084%) 2,250,000
24. 30 zinc Zn Chalcophile 70 (0.007%) 11,900,000
25. 58 cerium Ce Lithophile 66.5 (0.00665%) 24,000[15]
26. 29 copper Cu Chalcophile 60 (0.006%) 19,400,000
27. 60 neodymium Nd Lithophile 41.5 (0.00415%) 7,000[16]
28. 57 lanthanum La Lithophile 39 (0.0039%) 12,500[17]
29. 39 yttrium Y Lithophile 33 (0.0033%) 6,000
30. 27 cobalt Co Siderophile 25 (0.0025%) 123,000
31. 21 scandium Sc Lithophile 22 (0.0022%) 14[18]
32. 3 lithium Li Lithophile 20 (0.002%) 35,000
33. 41 niobium Nb Lithophile 20 (0.002%) 64,000
34. 7 nitrogen N Atmophile 19 (0.0019%) 140,000,000
35. 31 gallium Ga Chalcophile 19 (0.0019%) 315
36. 82 lead Pb Chalcophile 14 (0.0014%) 4,820,000
37. 5 boron B Lithophile 10 (0.001%) 9,400,000
38. 90 thorium Th Lithophile 9.6 (0.00096%) 5,000[19]
39. 59 praseodymium Pr Lithophile 9.2 (0.00092%) 2,500[20]
40. 62 samarium Sm Lithophile 7.05 (0.000705%) 700[21]
41. 64 gadolinium Gd Lithophile 6.2 (0.00062%) 400[22]
42. 66 dysprosium Dy Lithophile 5.2 (0.00052%) 0.2[23]
43. 68 erbium Er Lithophile 3.5 (0.00035%) 500[24]
44. 18 argon Ar Atmophile 3.5 (0.00035%)
45. 70 ytterbium Yb Lithophile 3.2 (0.00032%)
46. 72 hafnium Hf Lithophile 3.0 (0.0003%) 35[25]
47. 55 caesium Cs Lithophile 3.0 (0.0003%)
48. 4 beryllium Be Lithophile 2.8 (0.00028%) 220
49. 92 uranium U Lithophile 2.7 (0.00027%) 74,119
50. 35 bromine Br Lithophile 2.4 (0.00024%) 391,000
51. 50 tin Sn Chalcophile 2.3 (0.00023%) 280,000
52. 73 tantalum Ta Lithophile 2.0 (0.0002%) 1,100
53. 63 europium Eu Lithophile 2.0 (0.0002%) 35.8[26]
54. 33 arsenic As Chalcophile 1.8 (0.00018%) 36,500
55. 32 germanium Ge Chalcophile 1.5 (0.00015%) 155
56. 67 holmium Ho Lithophile 1.3 (0.00013%)
57. 74 tungsten W Siderophile 1.25 (0.000125%) 86,400
58. 42 molybdenum Mo Siderophile 1.2 (0.00012%) 227,000
59. 65 terbium Tb Lithophile 1.2 (0.00012%)
60. 81 thallium Tl Chalcophile 0.85 (8.5×10−5%) 10
61. 71 lutetium Lu Lithophile 0.8 (8×10−5%)
62. 69 thulium Tm Lithophile 0.52 (5.2×10−5%)
63. 53 iodine I Lithophile 0.45 (4.5×10−5%) 31,600
64. 49 indium In Chalcophile 0.25 (2.5×10−5%) 655
65. 51 antimony Sb Chalcophile 0.2 (2×10−5%) 130,000
66. 48 cadmium Cd Chalcophile 0.15 (1.5×10−5%) 23,000
67. 80 mercury Hg Chalcophile 0.085 (8.5×10−6%) 4,500
68. 47 silver Ag Chalcophile 0.075 (7.5×10−6%) 27,000
69. 34 selenium Se Chalcophile 0.05 (5×10−6%) 2,200
70. 46 palladium Pd Siderophile 0.015 (1.5×10−6%) 208
71. 83 bismuth Bi Chalcophile 0.0085 (8.5×10−7%) 10,200
72. 2 helium He Atmophile 0.008 (8×10−7%)
73. 10 neon Ne Atmophile 0.005 (5×10−7%)
74. 78 platinum Pt Siderophile 0.005 (5×10−7%) 172
75. 79 gold Au Siderophile 0.004 (4×10−7%) 3,100
76. 76 osmium Os Siderophile 0.0015 (1.5×10−7%)
77. 52 tellurium Te Chalcophile 0.001 (1×10−7%) 2,200
78. 44 ruthenium Ru Siderophile 0.001 (1×10−7%) 30
79. 77 iridium Ir Siderophile 0.001 (1×10−7%) 7.3
80. 45 rhodium Rh Siderophile 0.001 (1×10−7%) 30
81. 75 rhenium Re Siderophile 0.0007 (7×10−8%) 47.2
82. 36 krypton Kr Atmophile 0.0001 (1×10−8%)
83. 54 xenon Xe Atmophile 3×10−5 (3×10−9%)
84. 91 protactinium Pa trace 1.4×10−6 (1.4×10−10%)
85. 88 radium Ra trace 9×10−7 (9×10−11%)
86. 89 actinium Ac trace 5.5×10−10 (6×10−14%)
87. 84 polonium Po trace 2×10−10 (2×10−14%)
88. 86 radon Rn trace 4×10−13 (4×10−17%)
89. 43 technetium Tc trace 3×10−15 (3×10−19%)
90. 61 promethium Pm trace 2×10−23 (2×10−25%)|
91. 87 francium Fr trace 1×10−24 (1×10−26%)|
92. 85 astatine At trace 3×10−27 (3×10−29%)|
93. 94 plutonium Pu trace
94. 93 neptunium Np trace
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