Chemical Elements in the Environment Springer Berlin Heidelberg New York Barcelona Budapest HongKong London Milan Paris Santa Clara Singapore Tokyo Clemens Reimann· Patrice de Caritat Chemical Elements in the Environment Factsheets for the Geochemist and Environmental Scientist Springer CLEMENS REIMANN PATRICE DE CARITAT Section for Geochemistry Cooperative Research Centre Hydrogeology for Landscape Evolution Geological Survey of Norway and Mineral Exploration PO Box 3006-Lade c/o Australian Geological N-7002 Trondheim Survey Organisation Norway GPO Box 378, Canberra, ACT 2601 Australia e-mail: [email protected] ISBN-13: 978-3-642-72018-5 e-ISBN-13: 978-3-642-72016-1 001: 10.1007/978-3-642-72016-1 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Reimann, Clemens, 1952- Chemical elements in the environment: factsheets for the geochemist and environmental scientist / Clemens Reimann, Patrice de Caritat. p. cm. 1. Environmental geochemistry. 1. Caritat, Patrice de. II. Title. QE516.4.R45 1998 97-39319 551.9--dC21 eIP This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in other way, and storage in data banks. Duplication of this publication or parts thereofis permitted only under the provisions of the German Copyright Law of September 9, 1965, in its current version, and permission for use must always be obtained from Springer-Verlag. Violations are liable for prosecution act under German Copyright Law. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 1998 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1s t edition 1998 The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. Typesetting: Camera ready by author Cover layout: de'blik, Berlin SPIN: 1063670-6 32/3020 -5 43 2 1 0 -Printed of acid-free paper PREFACE CHEMICAL ELEMENTS IN THE ENVIRONMENT The idea of compiling geochemical and environmental data from existing literature probably has occurred to many of our readers. We can hardly claim any originality here! In our case, the constant frustration of searching, sometimes vainly, sometimes repeatedly, for data with which we could compare the results from a major multimedia, multielement ecogeochemis try project on the Kola peninsula, was the impetus for commencing this task. Thus, we set out to collect real data from regional, multielement studies available in existing literature. It was quite an eye-opener to realise how few such reliable studies exist, how limited in scope most are (either spatially or in terms of analytical breadth), and how haphazardly organised some previous attempts at data collation appear. We have thus tried to collect reliable information on the 92 elements reported to occur in nature. The resulting factsheets, which form the core of this book, consist of four pages of data for each element. For each of these elements, we have started the factsheet by giving essential physico-chemical information, followed by the abundances in typical rocks and crustal materials, and an indication of which important minerals are likely to contain the element in question. Subsequently, we have listed the concentrations of each element in various geochemical or environmental sample media, ranging from rocks, to soils, plants, waters, and even to human body fluids. As explained below, we have selected carefully the sources from which we extracted the data. Finally, we close each factsheet with a discussion of the biological significance, uses, environmental pathways, mobility, action levels, production and prices of each element. We have done our utmost to reproduce these values faithfully, and we hope that our readers will inform us of any mistakes or omissions, so that possible later editions might be improved. We would also like to mention that while preparing the manuscript for this book we met several scientists who were reluctant to contribute their data. Their unwillingness, rational as it may first appear, was generally fuelled by the suspicion that they would not be credited for their work, whereas we would. It is important to stress here that the purpose of this book is to prepare a collection of easily comparable data sets. We urge readers wanting to use these data in their own work to go back to, and cite, the original sources, or at least the contribu tor's name (e.g., "Manning as cited in Reimann and Caritat"). In any case, it is always strongly advisable to acquire and consult the original reference to find out more about sam pling strategy, exact area covered, number of samples collected and analysed for each ele ment, analytical details, and quality assurance and quality control procedures. The tendency to "hide" original data presents a real danger to the further development of science. In recent years, more and more papers have been published without data tables or even without data statistics. In other cases, only data for the three or four "most important" elements are given, even though very many more have obviously been analysed for. A good and easily v accessible collection of existing data is fundamental to advance the understanding of the behaviour of chemical elements in the environment, to identify gaps in our knowledge and, last but not least, to generate new research ideas. Chemical Elements in the Environment is intended as a workbook for the professional geochemist and environmental scientist, to which, we hope, they will often refer when interpreting their own data sets. While working on the manuscript of this book, we also bore in mind students in natural sciences at the university or college level who would be curious about the distribution of chemical elements on our planet -e.g. where are the main reservoirs of beryllium and rubidium? What do we know about tin in the environment? By how many orders of magnitude can the concentration of uranium in groundwater vary? The answers to these and many other questions can be found within these pages! In addition to the libraries of our fellow scientists, we hope that this book will find a place on the shelf, or preferably in the hands, of legislators in environmental protection or man agement around the world. We believe that they, perhaps more than anyone else, need a book like this one to keep in touch with real data and hard facts about the environment. We hope all readers will find this work useful. However, we cannot accept responsibility for any consequences resulting from the use of information in this book. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS A book like this cannot be prepared without the help of many individuals. We would par ticularly like to thank the following colleagues for providing us with their data sets, for other scientific input and for helpful suggestions: David Banks (Norway), Charles Butt (Australia), Ulrich Berner (Germany), Matthias Cornelius (Australia), Rudolf Dutter (Austria), Wolfgang Engel (Germany), Colin Dunn (Canada), Bob Garrett (Canada), Phil Green (Great Britain), Jo Halleraker (Norway), Gwendy Hall (Canada), Chris Johnson (Great Britain), Kurt Kon hauser (Great Britain), Bernt Markert (Germany), Joerg Matschullat (Germany), Gerry Moss (Great Britain), Heikki Niskavaara (Finland), Colin Pain (Australia), Jane Plant (Great Brit ain), Reijo Salminen (Finland), Tone Smith-Sivertsen (Norway), Ulrich Siewers (Germany), Brit Lisa SkjelkvaIe (Norway), Ray Smith (Australia), Timo Tarvainen (Finland), and the Environmental Geochemistry students at Leoben Mining University (Austria). In addition, at the Geological Survey of Norway, we have benefited from the library ex pertise of Anne Gaare and Grete Henriksen, from the data proficiency of Jan-Erik Kofoed, and from the secretarial know-how of Ase Minde. Many others have contributed with hints, ideas or references. We express our sincere gratitude to everybody who has helped us, even if not explicitly named here. Clemens Reimann and Patrice de Caritat Trondheim, February 1998 VI CONTENTS INTRODUCTION ................................................................. 1 FACTSHEET DESCRiPTION ....................................................... 5 GETIING MORE OUT OF THE FACTSHEETS ........................................ 11 INFORMATION SOURCES ........................................................ 17 REFERENCES ................................................................. 23 FACTSHEETS ................................................... " '" .......... 27 Ac Actinium .................................................................. 28 Ag Silver .................................................................... 30 AI Aluminium ................................................................ 34 Ar Argon ....................................................... , .... '" ., ... 38 As Arsenic ................................................................... 42 At Astatine .................................................................. 46 Au Gold ..................................................................... 48 B Boron ............................................. " ...... '" ............ 52 Ba Barium ................................................................... 56 Be Beryllium ................................................................. 60 Bi Bismuth .................................................................. 64 Br Bromine .................................................................. 68 C Carbon ........... " ... , .. , ............................................... 72 Ca Calcium .................................................................. 76 Cd Cadmium ................................................................. 80 Ce Cerium ................................................................... 84 CI Chlorine .................................................................. 88 Co Cobalt ................................................................... 92 Cr Chromium ................................................................ 96 Cs Cesium .................................................................. 100 Cu Copper .................................................................. 104 Dy Dysprosium .............................................................. 108 Er Erbium .................................................................. 112 Eu Europium ................................................................ 116 F Fluorine ................................................................. 120 Fe Iron ......... " ... , .... , .......... , ..... , ................................ 124 Fr Francium ................................................................ 128 Ga Gallium ................................................................. 130 Gd Gadolinium .............................................................. 134 Ge Germanium .............................................................. 138 H Hydrogen ................................................................ 142 He Helium .................................................................. 146 VII Hf Hafnium ................................................................. 150 Hg Mercury ................................................................. 154 Ho Holmium ................................................................ 158 Iodine ................................................................... 162 In Indium .................................................................. 166 Ir Iridium .................................................................. 170 K Potassium ............................................................... 174 Kr Krypton ................................................................. 178 La Lanthanum .............................................................. 182 Li Lithium .................................................................. 186 Lu Lutetium ................................................................. 190 Mg Magnesium .............................................................. 194 Mn Manganese .............................................................. 198 Mo Molybdenum ............................................................. 202 N Nitrogen ................................................................. 206 Na Sodium .................................................................. 210 Nb Niobium ................................................................. 214 Nd Neodymium .............................................................. 218 Ne Neon ................................................................... 222 Ni Nickel ............................................................... 226 Np Neptunium ............................................................... 230 o Oxygen ................................................................. 232 Os Osmium ................................................................. 236 P Phosphorus .............................................................. 240 Pa Protactinium ............................................................. 244 Pb Lead .................................................................... 248 Pd Palladium ................................................................ 252 Po Polonium ................................................................ 256 Pr Praseodymium ........................................................... 260 Pt Platinum ................................................................. 264 Pu Plutonium ................................................................ 268 Ra Radium ................................................................. 270 Rb Rubidium ................................................................ 274 Re Rhenium ................................................................ 278 Rh Rhodium ................................................................ 282 Rn Radon .................................................................. 286 Ru Ruthenium ............................................................... 290 S Sulphur ................................................................. 294 Sb Antimony ................................................................ 298 Sc Scandium ............................................................... 302 Se Selenium ................................................................ 306 Si Silicon .................................................................. 310 Sm Samarium ............................................................... 314 Sn Tin ..................................................................... 318 Sr Strontium ................................................................ 322 Ta Tantalum ................................................................ 326 Tb Terbium ................................................................. 330 Te Tellurium ................................................................ 334 Th Thorium ................................................................. 338 Ti Titanium ................................................................. 342 VIII TI Thallium ................................................................. 346 Tm Thulium ................................................................. 350 U Uranium ................................................................ 354 V Vanadium ............................................................... 358 W Tungsten ................................................................ 362 Xe Xenon .................................................................. 366 Y Yttrium .................................................................. 370 Yb Ytterbium ................................................................ 374 Zn Zinc .................................................................... 378 Zr Zirconium ............................................................... 382 APPENDIX ................................................................... 387 Table A1 . Conversion between element and oxide masses .............................. 388 Table A2. Conversion between mg, mmol and meq .................................... 392 Table A3. Conversion between selected units ........................................ 396 Table M. Conversion between common concentration units ............................. 398 IX INTRODUCTION Chemical Elements in the Environment: is a new book on this topic really needed? At a first glance one would believe that by now, after more than half a century of research into the distribution and behaviour of chemical elements in the environment and 20 years after Bowen's (1979) pioneering book focusing precisely on this topic ("Environmental Chemistry of the Elements"), we ought to know everything there is to know on the subject. After all, there are only about 90 chemical elements occurring naturally; it should not be such a major task to document their occurrence, abundance and distribution within the different compartments of the ecosystem. When working with data from the "Kola Ecogeochemistry Project," an international mul timedia, multielement geochemical mapping programme in the European Arctic (Reimann et aI., 1998; see also Internet site hup://www.ngu.no/Ko/a). we were often in need of data with which to compare the Kola results. Many different media were collected in the different stages of the project, ranging from precipitation (rain and snow), to stream, lake and ground water, terrestrial moss and other vegetation, and soils and rocks. It was thus necessary to search beyond the borders of the geosciences when trying to interpret the results. As a gen eral rule, we were only able to obtain data with relative ease for some ten elements. All media collected during the Kola Project were, however, analysed for more than 35 elements. The point was rapidly reached where good, relatively new, multielement data sets suited for comparison could not be located (though we are certain that excellent data sets exist but have just not reached the mainstream western publications yet). The only reference values re maining were then "world averages" for different media as originally given by Bowen (1979). It is rarely realised that the values given in these "world average" tables do not originate from samples systematically collected and analysed by one project group over a sizeable area, and thus that they do not represent statistically relevant data sets. Usually they are based on single values, often from very few samples that may again have been taken at different places somewhere on earth. These results were then collated in retrospect and purported to represent concentrations for all the elements in the periodic table. A good example of this practice is the new North Pacific ocean water data set given in the factsheets. The author quoted as the source here (Nozaki, 1997) assembled these data from no less than 66 different original publications to be able to calculate the concentrations of 95 elements in "North Pacific ocean water." These original papers, it turns out, often give only one single value for one element, based on one or a few water samples taken somewhere in the ocean. The oldest source dates back to 1958, and not even all samples are actually from the North Pacific. The accompanying depth profiles presented in Nozaki (1997) give a good idea of how meaningful "world average" ocean water element concentrations are. In conclusion, many of the values presently used as "world average stream water, ocean water, rocks" etc. are at best a learned guess as to the range within which an element may occur in these different media. It is actually quite interesting to compare these "world average" values with 1