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A large fraction of the chemical elements that occur naturally on the Earth's surface are essential to the structure and metabolism of living things. Four of these elements (hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen) are essential to every living thing and collectively make up 99% of the mass of protoplasm. [1]
The major parts of the biosphere are connected by the flow of chemical elements and compounds in biogeochemical cycles. In many of these cycles, the biota plays an important role. Matter from the Earth's interior is released by volcanoes. The atmosphere exchanges some compounds and elements rapidly with the biota and oceans.
Element Per. Gr. Role(s) in nature (non-living and living) Role(s) in technology (old and new) 1: H: Hydrogen 1 1: Astronomy: source of power by nuclear fusion (proton–proton chain reaction and CNO cycle) Biology: One of the most common elements in living organisms: Petrochemical industry: hydrodealkylation, hydrodesulfurization
32 of these have names tied to the Earth and the other 10 have names connected to bodies in the Solar System. The first tables below list the terrestrial locations (excluding the entire Earth itself, taken as a whole) and the last table lists astronomical objects which the chemical elements are named after. [1]
The rarest elements in the crust are not the heaviest, but are rather the siderophile elements (iron-loving) in the Goldschmidt classification of elements. These have been depleted by being relocated deeper into the Earth's core; their abundance in meteoroids is higher.
Plato (428/423 – 348/347 BC) seems to have been the first to use the term "element (στοιχεῖον, stoicheîon)" in reference to air, fire, earth, and water. [13] The ancient Greek word for element, stoicheion (from stoicheo , "to line up") meant "smallest division (of a sun-dial), a syllable", as the composing unit of an alphabet it ...
Rammed earth is more often considered for use in walls, although it can also be used for floors. Rammed earth and caliche block can be used for structural walls, and offer great potential as low-cost material alternatives with low embodied energy. In addition, such materials are fireproof. Caliche block and rammed earth can be produced on-site.
Isotope geochemistry involves the determination of the relative and absolute concentrations of the elements and their isotopes in the Earth and on Earth's surface. [ 12 ] Organic geochemistry , the study of the role of processes and compounds that are derived from living or once-living organisms.