LU 2 GEOSPHERE AND GEOCHEMISTRY

ELEMENTS

• How did the elements on earth originate?

These originated with the creation of the universe.

• Therefore, before considering the elements on Earth, we

should consider the origin of the universe and the solar
system.

• Information on the composition of this nebula has come from

meteorites and information on solar composition from
spectroscopy.

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◊Beginning of the Universe
(1) The Big Bang

◊Formation of the Galaxies

(2) Star Formation

◊Formation of the Solar System:

(3) Supernova explosion: Explosion of a massive star
(4) Solar Nebula Condensation
(5) Formation of the Sun and Planetary rings

◊Formation of the Earth

Accretion
Differentiation
Note: nebulous - cloudy, misty, or hazy

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◊Beginning of the Universe:

(1) The Big Bang

The Universe is thought to have begun in a "Big Bang" approx.

15 billion years ago.

According to the Big Bang Theory the Universe expanded to its

present enormous volume from an initial miniscule starting
volume.

Formation of the Elements: H and He

1. The cosmic explosion produced, among other particles,

protons, neutrons and electrons that rapidly became
organized into the elements.

2. First the subatomic particles (quarks, electrons, etc.) were

able to form,
• when temperature dropped further quarks were able to
organize into protons and neutrons,
• then these were able to form simple atomic nuclei and
• finally neutral atoms of hydrogen and helium could form
when temperatures had dropped even lower.

The formation of helium from hydrogen

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◊Formation of the Galaxies:

Regions began to emerge which had concentrations of the

gases hydrogen and helium higher than elsewhere.

These formed the basis for the development of what we now

recognize as galaxies.

A galaxy starts to form by the accumulation of hydrogen gas in

a very large cloud, called a nebula.

Galaxies formed (perhaps within the first million years of the

history of the Universe) by the inward gravitation collapse of
the early matter of the Universe, thus enhancing the difference
between regions where there was matter and regions where
there was none.

(2) Star Formation

The in homogeneities within galaxies, coupled with further

gravitational collapse, are the basis for star formation.

As matter aggregates in a growing nebula the internal gravity

draws in more gases.

Eventually the nebula develops localized 'clumps' of gas which

continue to grow into even denser gaseous bodies — stars.

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Formation of the Elements: Remaining Elements of the Periodic
Table

• The remaining elements of the periodic table were

produced via successive nuclear fusion in stars (up to Fe),
and neutron capture (larger than Fe).

Early in star development hydrogen is utilized to

manufacture the element helium.

The nuclei of the primitive light elements combined to form

heavier elements.

The fusion reactions proceeded in stages producing

successively heavier elements.

As the hydrogen in the star is used up, the star contracts and
its temperature rises so that nuclear reactions can take place
which permit the synthesis of the elements carbon, nitrogen
and oxygen, from helium.

When the helium is almost completely consumed the carbon

and oxygen can be transformed into elements with masses up
to that of silicon.

Increasing nuclear reactions, at higher temperatures lead to

the formation of elements with masses up to that of iron (Fe).

Beyond this point no heavier elements can be formed by the

process of nuclear fusion because the temperatures required
are higher than those found in stars.

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Nucleosynthesis (Stellar Nucleosynthesis)

This is the process through which elements were manufactured

inside the stars.

This is basically the fusion of small atomic nuclei to make

bigger ones.

The very high temperatures caused by gravitational collapse

ignited the fires of thermonuclear fusion in which the nuclei of
the primitive light elements combined to form heavier
elements.

› Elements up to Fe formed by fusion

In the largest of these stars, the fusion reactions proceeded in

stages producing successively heavier elements.

Nuclear burning is under way at all interior layers of such stars.

The Figure below is a cutaway drawing of such a multiple

burning star.

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The peripheral stellar layers produce helium,
The intermediate layers synthesize a variety of heavier-than-
helium nuclei and
The innermost core layers house the sites that creates heavy
nuclei up to and including iron.

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Neutron capture

Elements larger than Fe formed by neutron capture.

Neutron capture is a kind of nuclear reaction in which an

atomic nucleus collides with a neutron and they merge to form
a heavier nucleus.

The process is also known as thermal capture.

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 ◊Formation of the Solar System:

(3) Supernova explosion: Explosion of a massive star

These are stars 8 times or more massive than our Sun.

A supernova explosion occurs when there is no longer enough fuel

for the fusion process in the core of the star to create an outward
pressure which combats the inward gravitational pull of the star's
great mass.

When the nuclear reactions have used up all of the hydrogen at the
center with no hydrogen left anywhere this abrupt cessation of
hydrogen burning means that the star now has no nuclear energy
source.

• First, the star will swell into a supergiant...at least on the outside.

• On the inside, the core yields to gravity and begins shrinking.

• As it shrinks, it grows hotter and denser.

• A new series of nuclear reactions begin to occur....temporarily

halting the collapse of the core... but alas, it is only temporary.

• When the core contains essentially just iron, it has nothing left to
fuse (because of iron's nuclear structure, it does not permit its
atoms to fuse into heavier elements).

• Fusion in the core ceases.

• In less than a second, the star begins the final phase of

gravitational collapse.

• The core temperature rises to over 100 billion degrees as the

iron atoms are crushed together.

• The repulsive force between the nuclei overcomes the force of

gravity.

• So the core compresses, but then recoils.

• The energy of the recoil is transferred to the envelope of the

star, which then expodes and produces a shock wave.

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 • As the shock encounters material in the star's outer layers, the
material is heated, fusing to form new elements and radioactive
isotopes.

• The shock then propels the matter out into space.

• The material that is exploded away from the star is now known
as a supernova remnant.

• All that remains of the original star is a small, super-dense core

composed almost entirely of neutrons -- a neutron star. Or, if the
original star was very massive indeed (say 15 or more times the
mass of our Sun), even the neutrons cannot survive the core
collapse...and a black hole forms.

The Life Cycle of a Massive Star

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(4) Solar Nebula Condensation:
The solar system formed from the collapse of a huge cloud
of material (gas and dust) known as the Solar Nebula.

(a) As the gas collapsed from gravitation it formed a rotating disk of gas
that first heated and then cooled.

Collapsing Clouds of Gas and Dust:

A great cloud of gas and dust (called a nebula) begins to

collapse because the gravitational forces that would like to
collapse it overcome the forces associated with gas pressure
that would like to expand

The Spinning Nebula:

• It is unlikely that such a nebula can be created with no

angular momentum, so it is probably initially spinning
slowly.

• Because of conservation of angular momentum, the cloud

spins faster as it contracts.

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The Spinning Nebula Flattens:

Because of the competing forces associated with gravity, gas

pressure, and rotation, the contracting nebula begins to
flatten into a spinning pancake shape with a bulge at the
center, as illustrated in the following figure.

(b) Meanwhile out in the spinning disk as the gas cooled heavy elements
began to precipitate into solid particles of dust.

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(5) Formation of the Sun and Planetary rings

(a) Condensation of Protosun and Protoplanets

• As the nebula collapses further, instabilities in the

collapsing, rotating cloud cause local regions to begin to
contract gravitationally.

• These local regions of condensation will become the Sun

and the planets, as well as their moons and other debris in
the Solar System.

• While they are still condensing, the incipient Sun and

planets are called the protosun and protoplanets,
respectively.

As the nebula collapses further, local regions begin to contract

gravitationally on their own because of instabilities in the collapsing,
rotating cloud

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(b) Formation of Planetesimals

1. The heavy elements in the spinning disk have precipitated

into solid particles of dust and these particles and bits of
dust began to coalesce into small bodies called
planetesimals (sort of mini planets).
The precipitates were crystals (minerals) of platinum-group
metals, Os, Ru and Ir followed by Al oxides, metallic nickel-
iron and Mg silicates followed by more complex silicates
then various sulfides of heavy metals.
This precipitation sequence is preserved in primitive
meteorites. Chondrules, small rounded objects found in
some meteorites, are formed.

2. Over time, the planetesimals collide and group together into

larger and larger bodies, eventually reaching planetary size.
Eventually, the large planets sweep up most of the
remaining planetesimals (and smaller bodies) and the solar
system reaches a relatively stable configuration.
Overall, this process from collapse to solar system takes
something like 0.1-1 billion years.

3. Before temperatures cooled sufficiently in the inner solar

system so that the most volatile elements (H, C, N and the
noble gases) could condense, H fusion in the sun ignited and
blew these elements to the outer solar system where they
are enriched in the outer planets, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus,
and Neptune.

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 ◊Formation of the Earth

Accretion

• The Earth accreted from Planetesimals.

• Homogeneous Accretion: Formation from undifferentiated

Planetesimals

Differentiation

• As the proto Earth grew from the influx of solid particles it

got hot enough to melt so that the dense Ni-Fe metal
together with elements soluble in the metal sank to the

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 center and formed the core, and the lighter oxygen-bearing
minerals (mostly silicates) formed the mantle.

• Differentiation is the separation of materials due to density

differences. Planet Earth develops with a core of iron and
nickel, and a crust of silicates due to differentiation.

• Today the mantle is entirely solid and has been throughout

most of Earth's history, whereas the core comprises a liquid
metal outer core and a solid metal inner core.

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How did this differentiation happen?

What happened to that mixture of all the elements constituting

the Earth once the Earth started to heat up and differentiate?

1. Basically, whenever chemical elements (atoms) are brought

together there is a tendency for them to react with each
other and to form compounds.

[How this works exactly is the subject of thermodynamics or

physical chemistry. Thermodynamics allows us to calculate the
outcome of chemical reactions when we bring certain
substances together.]

The atoms and molecules in these compounds are present in

compound-specific proportions, and they are not randomly
distributed.
Instead, they show very specific geometric arrangements.
We know these compounds making up the crust and mantle
are commonly known as minerals.

2. The first precipitates were crystals (minerals) of platinum-

group metals, Os, Ru, and Ir, followed by aluminum oxides,
metallic Ni-Fe, and Mg silicates.
This was followed by more complex silicates and then by
various sulfides of heavy metals.
We can see this precipitation sequence preserved in
primitive meteorites.

3. As the proto Earth grew from the influx of solid particles it

got hot enough to melt so that the dense Ni-Fe metal
together with elements soluble in the metal sank to the
center and formed the core, and the lighter oxygen-bearing
minerals (mostly silicates) formed the mantle.
The material that was displaced into the mantle during
formation of the iron core contained abundant O, Si, Mg, Fe,
Al, and Ca (plus smaller quantities of a range of other
elements) and under the pressures and temperatures that
prevail there, chemical reactions (following the laws of
thermodynamics) produce compounds (minerals) that are
known as olivine and pyroxene.

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 During formation of the crust, other compounds (minerals),
in particular feldspars and quartz were common reaction
products.

4. So, except for the oceans and atmosphere, the Earth today is
made up of solid minerals to a depth of about 2900 km.

The physics and chemistry of the solid phases (minerals) of the

Earth control much of the physics and chemistry of our
environment. Unlike fluids, minerals preserve the records of
Earth's history. Further minerals contain the wealth of natural
resources of the planet. Therefore understanding the physics
and chemistry of the solid materials of the planet (mineralogy)
is central to geochemistry

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According to the “big bang” theory for which there is now overwhelming
evidence, the universe as we know it (that is, all space, time, and matter) had its
origin in a point source or singularity that began an explosive expansion about
12-15 billion years ago, and which is still continuing.

Following a brief period of extremely rapid expansion called inflation, protons

and neutrons condensed out of the initial quantum soup after about 10–32 s. The
first chemical species, 1H, became stable during the first few minutes, along
with some of the very lightest nuclides up to 7Li, which were formed through
various fusion and neutron-absorption processes. Formation of most heavier
elements was delayed for about 106 years until nucleosynthesis commenced in
the first stars. Hydrogen still accounts for about 93% of the atoms in the
universe.

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