Distribution of Elements on Earth and in Living Systems

The majority of elements are naturally occurring. How are these elements distributed on Earth, and which are essential to living systems?

Earth’s crust extends from the surface to a depth of about 40 km (about 25 mi). Because of technical difficulties, scientists have not been able to study the inner portions of Earth as easily as the crust. Nevertheless, it is believed that there is a solid core consisting mostly of iron at the center of Earth. Surrounding the core is a layer called the mantle, which consists of hot fluid containing iron, carbon, silicon, and sulfur.

Of the 83 elements that are found in nature, 12 make up 99.7 percent of Earth’s crust by mass. They are, in decreasing order of natural abundance, oxygen (O), silicon (Si), aluminum (Al), iron (Fe), calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), sodium (Na), potassium (K), titanium (Ti), hydrogen (H), phosphorus (P), and manganese (Mn). In discussing the natural abundance of the elements, we should keep in mind that (1) the elements are not evenly distributed throughout Earth’s crust, and (2) most elements occur in combined forms. These facts provide the basis for most methods of obtaining pure elements from their compounds, as we will see in later chapters.

The accompanying table lists the essential elements in the human body. Of special interest are the trace elements, such as iron (Fe), copper (Cu), zinc (Zn), iodine (I), and cobalt (Co), which together make up about 0.1 percent of the body’s mass. These elements are necessary for biological functions such as growth, transport of oxygen for metabolism, and defense against disease. There is a delicate balance in the amounts of these elements in our bodies. Too much or too little over an extended period of time can lead to serious illness, retardation, or even death.

Structure of Earth’s interior.

(a) Natural abundance of the elements in percent by mass. For example, oxygen’s abundance is 45.5 percent. This means that in a 100-g sample of Earth’s crust there are, on the average, 45.5 g of the element oxygen. (b) Abundance of elements in the human body in percent by mass.