Element abundance in the Earth’s crust refers to the relative quantities of different chemical elements that make up the solid outer layer of our planet. This composition plays a crucial role in the formation of minerals, the availability of natural resources, and various geological and industrial processes. This table and periodic table show the relative abundance of elements in the Earth’s crust.
Each element tile shows its atomic number, symbol, name, and abundance in milligrams per kilogram of Earth’s crust. Since 1 milligram is one-millionth of a kilogram, these values also indicate “parts per million”.
A PDF of this table is available for easy printing.
The colors represent a break in the ranges over an order of magnitude. Elements with no measured values or no data are blank. Most of these elements do not occur naturally in nature (93-118). The abundances are a median of measurements taken from around the world. For example, not every kilogram of dirt contains 0.004 milligrams of gold.
Table of the Abundance of Elements in Earth’s Crust
This table contains the same data arranged in a simple format and arranged by abundance.
| Number | Element | Abundance (mg/L) |
| 8 | Oxygen | 4.61 x 105 |
| 14 | Silicon | 2.82 x 105 |
| 13 | Aluminum | 8.23 x 104 |
| 26 | Iron | 5.63 x 104 |
| 20 | Calcium | 4.15 x 104 |
| 11 | Sodium | 2.36 x 104 |
| 12 | Magnesium | 2.33 x 104 |
| 19 | Potassium | 2.09 x 104 |
| 22 | Titanium | 5.56 x 103 |
| 1 | Hydrogen | 1.40 x 103 |
| 15 | Phosphorus | 1.05 x 103 |
| 25 | Manganese | 950 |
| 9 | Fluorine | 585 |
| 56 | Barium | 425 |
| 38 | Strontium | 370 |
| 16 | Sulfur | 350 |
| 6 | Carbon | 200 |
| 40 | Zirconium | 165 |
| 17 | Chlorine | 145 |
| 23 | Vanadium | 120 |
| 24 | Chromium | 102 |
| 37 | Rubidium | 90 |
| 28 | Nickel | 84 |
| 30 | Zinc | 70 |
| 58 | Cerium | 66.5 |
| 29 | Copper | 60 |
| 60 | Neodymium | 41.5 |
| 57 | Lanthanum | 39 |
| 39 | Yttrium | 33 |
| 27 | Cobalt | 25 |
| 21 | Scandium | 22 |
| 3 | Lithium | 20 |
| 41 | Niobium | 20 |
| 7 | Nitrogen | 19 |
| 31 | Gallium | 19 |
| 82 | Lead | 14 |
| 5 | Boron | 10 |
| 90 | Thorium | 9.6 |
| 59 | Praseodymium | 9.2 |
| 62 | Samarium | 7.05 |
| 64 | Gadolinium | 6.2 |
| 66 | Dysprosium | 5.2 |
| 18 | Argon | 3.5 |
| 68 | Erbium | 3.5 |
| 70 | Ytterbium | 3.2 |
| 55 | Cesium | 3 |
| 72 | Hafnium | 3.0 |
| 4 | Beryllium | 2.8 |
| 92 | Uranium | 2.7 |
| 35 | Bromine | 2.4 |
| 50 | Tin | 2.3 |
| 63 | Europium | 2.0 |
| 73 | Tantalum | 2.0 |
| 33 | Arsenic | 1.8 |
| 32 | Germanium | 1.5 |
| 67 | Holmium | 1.3 |
| 74 | Tungsten | 1.25 |
| 42 | Molybdenum | 1.2 |
| 65 | Terbium | 1.2 |
| 81 | Thallium | 0.85 |
| 71 | Lutetium | 0.8 |
| 69 | Thulium | 0.52 |
| 53 | Iodine | 0.45 |
| 49 | Indium | 0.25 |
| 51 | Antimony | 0.2 |
| 48 | Cadmium | 0.15 |
| 80 | Mercury | 8.5 x 10-2 |
| 47 | Silver | 7.5 x 10-2 |
| 34 | Selenium | 5 x 10-2 |
| 46 | Palladium | 1.5 x 10-2 |
| 83 | Bismuth | 8.5 x 10-3 |
| 2 | Helium | 8 x 10-3 |
| 10 | Neon | 5 x 10-3 |
| 78 | Platinum | 5 x 10-3 |
| 79 | Gold | 4 x 10-3 |
| 76 | Osmium | 1.5 x 10-3 |
| 44 | Ruthenium | 1 x 10-3 |
| 45 | Rhodium | 1 x 10-3 |
| 52 | Tellurium | 1 x 10-3 |
| 77 | Iridium | 1 x 10-3 |
| 75 | Rhenium | 7 x 10-4 |
| 36 | Krypton | 1 x 10-4 |
| 54 | Xenon | 3 x 10-5 |
| 91 | Protactinium | 1.4 x 10-6 |
| 88 | Radium | 9 x 10-7 |
| 89 | Actinium | 5.5 x 10-10 |
| 84 | Polonium | 2 x 10-10 |
| 86 | Radon | 4 x 10-11 |
| 43 | Technetium | No Data |
| 61 | Promethium | No Data |
| 85 | Astatine | No Data |
| 87 | Francium | No Data |
| 93 | Neptunium | No Data |
| 94 | Plutonium | No Data |
| 95 | Americium | No Data |
| 96 | Curium | No Data |
| 97 | Berkelium | No Data |
| 98 | Californium | No Data |
| 99 | Einsteinium | No Data |
| 100 | Fermium | No Data |
| 101 | Mendelevium | No Data |
| 102 | Nobelium | No Data |
| 103 | Lawrencium | No Data |
| 104 | Rutherfordium | No Data |
| 105 | Dubnium | No Data |
| 106 | Seaborgium | No Data |
| 107 | Bohrium | No Data |
| 108 | Hassium | No Data |
| 109 | Meitnerium | No Data |
| 110 | Darmstadtium | No Data |
| 111 | Roentgenium | No Data |
| 112 | Copernium | No Data |
| 113 | Nihonium | No Data |
| 114 | Flerovium | No Data |
| 115 | Moscovium | No Data |
| 116 | Livermorium | No Data |
| 117 | Tennessine | No Data |
| 118 | Oganesson | No Data |
A Closer Look at the Top 10 Elements in the Earth’s Crust
The Earth’s crust is dominated by the following ten elements, listed by their approximate weight percentage according to the CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics, 89th edition (David Lide, ed.):
- Oxygen (O) – 46.1%: The most abundant element, found in silicate minerals, oxides, and water.
- Silicon (Si) – 28.2%: Forms the backbone of silicate minerals, including quartz and feldspar.
- Aluminum (Al) – 8.23%: A key component of feldspar, clay minerals, and bauxite.
- Iron (Fe) – 5.63%: Present in minerals like hematite and magnetite, crucial for steel production.
- Calcium (Ca) – 4.15%: Found in limestone, gypsum, and other carbonate minerals.
- Sodium (Na) – 2.36%: A major component of feldspar and salt deposits.
- Magnesium (Mg) – 2.33%: A building block of mafic minerals like olivine and pyroxene.
- Potassium (K) – 2.09%: Essential for plant life, abundant in potassium feldspar and mica.
- Titanium (Ti) – 0.56%: Occurs in minerals such as rutile and ilmenite, used in pigments and aerospace alloys.
- Hydrogen (H) – 0.14%: Present in water and hydroxide minerals, vital for life and chemical reactions.
How Element Abundance Is Measured
Scientists determine element abundance in the Earth’s crust using a variety of analytical techniques:
- X-ray Fluorescence (XRF): Bombards rock samples with X-rays to excite atoms, measuring the emitted secondary X-rays to identify elemental composition.
- Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS): Uses a high-temperature plasma source to ionize elements in a sample, measuring their mass-to-charge ratio for precise quantification.
- Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy (AAS): Measures how much light specific elements absorb in a sample, useful for detecting trace metals.
- Gravimetric and Volumetric Analysis: Traditional wet chemical methods for quantifying major elements in rock samples.
- Remote Sensing and Satellite Spectroscopy: Provides large-scale insights into surface composition, particularly for planetary geology and mineral exploration.
Different sampling methods, geological variations, and measurement uncertainties mean that reported element abundances vary slightly depending on the source.
Distribution of Elements in the Earth’s Crust
The Earth’s crust consists of a mix of elements that are distributed unevenly due to geological processes such as plate tectonics, volcanic activity, and erosion. Elements fall into different geochemical groups based on their affinity for certain types of rocks:
- Lithophile Elements (Rock-Loving): These elements, including oxygen, silicon, aluminum, and potassium, readily combine with oxygen to form silicates and oxides. Lithophile elements make up the bulk of Earth’s crust.
- Siderophile Elements (Iron-Loving): Elements like iron, nickel, and platinum prefer bonding with metallic iron and are more abundant in the Earth’s core than in the crust.
- Chalcophile Elements (Sulfur-Loving): Copper, lead, and zinc form sulfides and concentrate in ore deposits rather than being evenly distributed.
- Atmophile Elements (Gas-Loving): Elements like nitrogen, hydrogen, and noble gases mostly occur in the atmosphere and oceans rather than in solid rocks.
These classifications help explain why some elements are rare in the crust but more abundant in other parts of the Earth.
Comparison With Other Abundance Scales
Crustal abundance differs significantly from element distributions in other parts of the Earth and the cosmos:
- Cosmic Abundance: Hydrogen and helium dominate the universe but are rare in the crust due to their gaseous nature.
- Mantle and Core Abundance: The Earth’s core is rich in iron and nickel, whereas the crust contains more silicates and oxides.
- Atmospheric and Oceanic Abundance: Elements like nitrogen, carbon, and noble gases are more abundant in the atmosphere and oceans than in solid rock.
Why Do Element Abundance Values Vary Between Sources?
Element abundance values differ between sources due to several factors:
- Different Reference Samples: Some sources focus on continental crust, while others include oceanic crust, leading to slight variations in calculated averages.
- Variability in Measurement Techniques: Different analytical methods (XRF, ICP-MS, etc.) produce slightly different results.
- Geochemical Assumptions: Estimates depend on geological models that change with new data.
- Revised Research and Updated Data: More recent studies refine earlier estimates, leading to periodic adjustments in reported values.
Interesting Facts About Element Abundance
- Oxygen is the dominant element in the crust because it readily forms bonds with other elements and forms silicate minerals.
- Gold is more abundant in seawater than in crustal rocks, but its low concentration makes extraction economically unfeasible.
- Rare Earth Elements (REEs) aren’t actually rare, but they are dispersed and hard to extract in economic concentrations.
- Some elements exist in such small amounts that they were only discovered in the last century, such as rhenium and francium.
- Tectonic activity redistributes elements over time, concentrating ores in specific regions through processes like hydrothermal circulation.
References
- Lide, David R. (ed.) (2008) CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics (89th ed.). CRC Press. ISBN: 978-1420066791.
- Morgan, J. W.; Anders, E. (1980). “Chemical composition of Earth, Venus, and Mercury”. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 77 (12): 6973–6977. doi:10.1073/pnas.77.12.6973
- Suess, Hans; Urey, Harold (1956). “Abundances of the Elements”. Reviews of Modern Physics. 28 (1): 53. doi:10.1103/RevModPhys.28.53
- Zoroddu, Maria Antonietta; Aaseth, Jan; et al. (2019). “The essential metals for humans: a brief overview”. Journal of Inorganic Biochemistry. 195: 120–129. doi:10.1016/j.jinorgbio.2019.03.013