2.8: Abundance of Elements in Earth's Crust
- Page ID
- 2497
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\(\newcommand{\avec}{\mathbf a}\) \(\newcommand{\bvec}{\mathbf b}\) \(\newcommand{\cvec}{\mathbf c}\) \(\newcommand{\dvec}{\mathbf d}\) \(\newcommand{\dtil}{\widetilde{\mathbf d}}\) \(\newcommand{\evec}{\mathbf e}\) \(\newcommand{\fvec}{\mathbf f}\) \(\newcommand{\nvec}{\mathbf n}\) \(\newcommand{\pvec}{\mathbf p}\) \(\newcommand{\qvec}{\mathbf q}\) \(\newcommand{\svec}{\mathbf s}\) \(\newcommand{\tvec}{\mathbf t}\) \(\newcommand{\uvec}{\mathbf u}\) \(\newcommand{\vvec}{\mathbf v}\) \(\newcommand{\wvec}{\mathbf w}\) \(\newcommand{\xvec}{\mathbf x}\) \(\newcommand{\yvec}{\mathbf y}\) \(\newcommand{\zvec}{\mathbf z}\) \(\newcommand{\rvec}{\mathbf r}\) \(\newcommand{\mvec}{\mathbf m}\) \(\newcommand{\zerovec}{\mathbf 0}\) \(\newcommand{\onevec}{\mathbf 1}\) \(\newcommand{\real}{\mathbb R}\) \(\newcommand{\twovec}[2]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\ctwovec}[2]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\threevec}[3]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cthreevec}[3]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\fourvec}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cfourvec}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\fivevec}[5]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \\ #5 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cfivevec}[5]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \\ #5 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\mattwo}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{rr}#1 \amp #2 \\ #3 \amp #4 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\laspan}[1]{\text{Span}\{#1\}}\) \(\newcommand{\bcal}{\cal B}\) \(\newcommand{\ccal}{\cal C}\) \(\newcommand{\scal}{\cal S}\) \(\newcommand{\wcal}{\cal W}\) \(\newcommand{\ecal}{\cal E}\) \(\newcommand{\coords}[2]{\left\{#1\right\}_{#2}}\) \(\newcommand{\gray}[1]{\color{gray}{#1}}\) \(\newcommand{\lgray}[1]{\color{lightgray}{#1}}\) \(\newcommand{\rank}{\operatorname{rank}}\) \(\newcommand{\row}{\text{Row}}\) \(\newcommand{\col}{\text{Col}}\) \(\renewcommand{\row}{\text{Row}}\) \(\newcommand{\nul}{\text{Nul}}\) \(\newcommand{\var}{\text{Var}}\) \(\newcommand{\corr}{\text{corr}}\) \(\newcommand{\len}[1]{\left|#1\right|}\) \(\newcommand{\bbar}{\overline{\bvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\bhat}{\widehat{\bvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\bperp}{\bvec^\perp}\) \(\newcommand{\xhat}{\widehat{\xvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\vhat}{\widehat{\vvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\uhat}{\widehat{\uvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\what}{\widehat{\wvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\Sighat}{\widehat{\Sigma}}\) \(\newcommand{\lt}{<}\) \(\newcommand{\gt}{>}\) \(\newcommand{\amp}{&}\) \(\definecolor{fillinmathshade}{gray}{0.9}\)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 |
| 1 | 8 | oxygen | O | 460,000 |
| 2 | 14 | silicon | Si | 277,000 |
| 3 | 13 | aluminium | Al | 81,300 |
| 4 | 26 | iron | Fe | 50,000 |
| 5 | 20 | calcium | Ca | 36,300 |
| 6 | 11 | sodium | Na | 28,300 |
| 7 | 19 | potassium | K | 25,900 |
| 8 | 12 | magnesium | Mg | 20,900 |
| 9 | 22 | titanium | Ti | 4,400 |
| 10 | 1 | hydrogen | H | 1,400 |
| 11 | 15 | phosphorus | P | 1,200 |
| 12 | 25 | manganese | Mn | 1,000 |
| 13 | 9 | fluorine | F | 800 |
| 14 | 56 | barium | Ba | 500 |
| 15 | 6 | carbon | C | 300 |
| 16 | 38 | strontium | Sr | |
| 17 | 16 | sulfur | S | 500 |
| 18 | 40 | zirconium | Zr | |
| 19 | 74 | tungsten | W | |
| 20 | 23 | vanadium | V | 100 |
| 21 | 17 | chlorine | Cl | 500 |
| 22 | 24 | chromium | Cr | 100 |
| 23 | 37 | rubidium | Rb | 300 |
| 24 | 28 | nickel | Ni | |
| 25 | 30 | zinc | Zn | |
| 26 | 29 | copper | Cu | 100 |
| 27 | 58 | cerium | Ce | |
| 28 | 60 | neodymium | Nd | |
| 29 | 57 | lanthanum | La | |
| 30 | 39 | yttrium | Y | |
| 31 | 7 | nitrogen | N | 50 |
| 32 | 27 | cobalt | Co | |
| 33 | 3 | lithium | Li | |
| 34 | 41 | niobium | Nb | |
| 35 | 31 | gallium | Ga | |
| 36 | 21 | scandium | Sc | |
| 37 | 82 | lead | Pb | |
| 38 | 62 | samarium | Sm | |
| 39 | 90 | thorium | Th | |
| 40 | 59 | praseodymium | Pr | |
| 41 | 5 | boron | B | |
| 42 | 64 | gadolinium | Gd | |
| 43 | 66 | dysprosium | Dy | |
| 44 | 72 | hafnium | Hf | |
| 45 | 68 | erbium | Er | |
| 46 | 70 | ytterbium | Yb | |
| 47 | 55 | caesium | Cs | |
| 48 | 4 | beryllium | Be | |
| 49 | 50 | tin | Sn | 0 |
| 50 | 63 | europium | Eu | |
| 51 | 92 | uranium | U | |
| 52 | 73 | tantalum | Ta | |
| 53 | 32 | germanium | Ge | |
| 54 | 42 | molybdenum | Mo | |
| 55 | 33 | arsenic | As | |
| 56 | 67 | holmium | Ho | |
| 57 | 65 | terbium | Tb | |
| 58 | 69 | thulium | Tm | |
| 59 | 35 | bromine | Br | |
| 60 | 81 | thallium | Tl | |
| 61 | 71 | lutetium | Lu | |
| 62 | 51 | antimony | Sb | |
| 63 | 53 | iodine | I | |
| 64 | 48 | cadmium | Cd | |
| 65 | 47 | silver | Ag | |
| 66 | 80 | mercury | Hg | |
| 67 | 34 | selenium | Se | |
| 68 | 49 | indium | In | |
| 69 | 83 | bismuth | Bi | |
| 70 | 52 | tellurium | Te | |
| 71 | 78 | platinum | Pt | |
| 72 | 79 | gold | Au | |
| 73 | 44 | ruthenium | Ru | |
| 74 | 46 | palladium | Pd | |
| 75 | 75 | rhenium | Re | |
| 76 | 77 | iridium | Ir | |
| 77 | 45 | rhodium | Rh | |
| 78 | 76 | osmium | Os |
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Contributors and Attributions
Original content from Kimberly Schulte (Columbia Basin College) and supplemented by Lumen Learning. The content on this page is copyrighted under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license.