Reading: Abundance of Elements in Earth's Crust
The table shows the abundance of elements in Earth's crust. Numbers show percentage or parts per million (ppm) in mass; 10,000 ppm = 1%. Note that numbers are estimates, and they will vary depending on source and method of estimation. Order of magnitude of data can roughly be relied upon.
Rank | Atomic Number | Element | Symbol | Lithosphere abundance |
Relative proportion (ppm) | Abundance in crust (ppm) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 8 | oxygen | O | 460,000 | 474,000 | 461,000 |
2 | 14 | silicon[2] | Si | 277,200 | 277,100 | 282,000 |
3 | 13 | aluminium | Al | 81,300 | 82,000 | 82,300 |
4 | 26 | iron | Fe | 50,000 | 41,000 | 56,300 |
5 | 20 | calcium | Ca | 36,300 | 41,000 | 41,500 |
6 | 11 | sodium | Na | 28,300 | 23,000 | 23,600 |
7 | 19 | potassium | K | 25,900 | 21,000 | 20,900 |
8 | 12 | magnesium | Mg | 20,900 | 23,000 | 23,300 |
9 | 22 | titanium | Ti | 4,400 | 5,600 | 5,600 |
10 | 1 | hydrogen | H | 1,400 | 1,400 | |
11 | 15 | phosphorus | P | 1,200 | 1,000 | 1,050 |
12 | 25 | manganese | Mn | 1,000 | 950 | 950 |
13 | 9 | fluorine | F | 800 | 950 | 585 |
14 | 56 | barium | Ba | 500 | 340 | 425 |
15 | 6 | carbon | C | 300 | 480 | 200 |
16 | 38 | strontium | Sr | 370 | 370 | |
17 | 16 | sulfur | S | 500 | 260 | 350 |
18 | 40 | zirconium | Zr | 190 | 165 | |
19 | 74 | tungsten | W | 160.6 | 1.25 | |
20 | 23 | vanadium | V | 100 | 160 | 120 |
21 | 17 | chlorine | Cl | 500 | 130 | 145 |
22 | 24 | chromium | Cr | 100 | 100 | 102 |
23 | 37 | rubidium | Rb | 300 | 90 | 90 |
24 | 28 | nickel | Ni | 80 | 84 | |
25 | 30 | zinc | Zn | 75 | 70 | |
26 | 29 | copper | Cu | 100 | 50 | 60 |
27 | 58 | cerium | Ce | 68 | 66.5 | |
28 | 60 | neodymium | Nd | 38 | 41.5 | |
29 | 57 | lanthanum | La | 32 | 39 | |
30 | 39 | yttrium | Y | 30 | 33 | |
31 | 7 | nitrogen | N | 50 | 25 | 19 |
32 | 27 | cobalt | Co | 20 | 25 | |
33 | 3 | lithium | Li | 20 | 20 | |
34 | 41 | niobium | Nb | 20 | 20 | |
35 | 31 | gallium | Ga | 18 | 19 | |
36 | 21 | scandium | Sc | 16 | 22 | |
37 | 82 | lead | Pb | 14 | 14 | |
38 | 62 | samarium | Sm | 7.9 | 7.05 | |
39 | 90 | thorium | Th | 12 | 9.6 | |
40 | 59 | praseodymium | Pr | 9.5 | 9.2 | |
41 | 5 | boron | B | 950 | 10 | |
42 | 64 | gadolinium | Gd | 7.7 | 6.2 | |
43 | 66 | dysprosium | Dy | 6 | 5.2 | |
44 | 72 | hafnium | Hf | 5.3 | 3.0 | |
45 | 68 | erbium | Er | 3.8 | 3.5 | |
46 | 70 | ytterbium | Yb | 3.3 | 3.2 | |
47 | 55 | caesium | Cs | 3 | 3 | |
48 | 4 | beryllium | Be | 2.6 | 2.8 | |
49 | 50 | tin | Sn | 0 | 2.2 | 2.3 |
50 | 63 | europium | Eu | 2.1 | 2.0 | |
51 | 92 | uranium | U | 0 | 2.7 | |
52 | 73 | tantalum | Ta | 2 | 2.0 | |
53 | 32 | germanium | Ge | 1.8 | 1.5 | |
54 | 42 | molybdenum | Mo | 1.5 | 1.2 | |
55 | 33 | arsenic | As | 1.5 | 1.8 | |
56 | 67 | holmium | Ho | 1.4 | 1.3 | |
57 | 65 | terbium | Tb | 1.1 | 1.2 | |
58 | 69 | thulium | Tm | 0.48 | 0.52 | |
59 | 35 | bromine | Br | 0.37 | 2.4 | |
60 | 81 | thallium | Tl | 0.6 | 0.850 | |
61 | 71 | lutetium | Lu | 0.5 | ||
62 | 51 | antimony | Sb | 0.2 | 0.2 | |
63 | 53 | iodine | I | 0.14 | 0.450 | |
64 | 48 | cadmium | Cd | 0.11 | 0.15 | |
65 | 47 | silver | Ag | 0.070 | 0.075 | |
66 | 80 | mercury | Hg | 0.05 | 0.085 | |
67 | 34 | selenium | Se | 0.05 | 0.05 | |
68 | 49 | indium | In | 0.049 | 0.250 | |
69 | 83 | bismuth | Bi | 0.048 | 0.0085 | |
70 | 52 | tellurium | Te | 0.005 | 0.001 | |
71 | 78 | platinum | Pt | 0.003 | 0.005 | |
72 | 79 | gold | Au | 0.0011 | 0.004 | |
73 | 44 | ruthenium | Ru | 0.001 | 0.001 | |
74 | 46 | palladium | Pd | 0.0006 | 0.015 | |
75 | 75 | rhenium | Re | 0.0004 | 0.0007 | |
76 | 77 | iridium | Ir | 0.0003 | 0.001 | |
77 | 45 | rhodium | Rh | 0.0002 | 0.001 | |
78 | 76 | osmium | Os | 0.0001 | 0.0015 |
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