The Formation of Elements

and distribution in Earth

How they formed and distributed?
 Elements and the ‘Big Bang’
theory
During the formation of the universe some
14 billion years ago in the so-called ‘Big
Bang’, only the lightest elements were
formed – hydrogen and helium along with
trace amounts of lithium and beryllium.
 Composition of the proto-universe

• When the universe was first created,

essentially all matter was in the form of
two elements- hydrogen and helium. Their
relative abundance (by weight) was 75%
hydrogen and 25% helium. As the cloud
of cosmic dust and gases from the Big
Bang cooled, stars formed, and these then
grouped together to form galaxies.
How to estimate the composition of
the stars
By the early 1900s, scientists had made the following
observations:
When a sample of gaseous atoms of an element at low
pressure is subjected to an input of energy, such as
from an electric discharge, the atoms are themselves
found to emit electromagnetic radiation.

On passing through a very thin slit and then through a prism

the light (electromagnetic radiation) emitted by
the excited atoms is separated into its
component frequencies. The familiar
dispersion of white light is illustrated
below:
The conditions inside a star that
allow the formation of the higher
mass elements can be related to a
pushing match between gravity
and the energy released by the
star. Gravity creates a force that
would cause a star to shrink and
collapse, but the energy released
by nuclear reactions within the star
flows outward, and produces
thermal pressure that opposes
gravity. When these two forces are
balanced, the star maintains a
particular size. But when there is
some type of imbalance, the star
(or some part of it) will expand or
contract in response to the
stronger of the two forces.
 The more massive He nuclei are drawn to
the center of the core by gravity. As the
He nuclei move toward the center of the
core, the temperature and density in that
region increases. With the formation of
this central He core, the H fusion
continues. This occurs in a layer
surrounding the He core, where the He
concentration is lower. This layer is
referred to as a "shell."

Formation of Heavy Elements:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jf_4z4AKwJg
 Formation of Carbon
The He core continues to contract
under the influence of gravity and
draw in the He forming in the
hydrogen shell. If the temperature
reaches 100,000,000 K (which
depends on the initial mass of the
protostar), He burning can begin.
This is where the He nuclei are
able to undergo fusion. This results
in the formation of carbon nuclei
through a series of reactions
 Formation of other heavy elements
If a star had sufficient mass,
though, eventually enough C
would accumulate so that
the temperature and density
reach a point where C nuclei
could be fused into Neon
nuclei. Further cores/shells
involve neon being
converted to oxygen,
oxygen fusing to silicon, and
finally, silicon going to Ni
(this product is radioactive
and decays to form Iron).
Stars that reach this stage
are called red supergiants.
This is the limit to what a star can do
 In this collapse, the Fe nuclei in the
central portion of the core are broken
down into alpha particles, protons, and
neutrons and are compressed even
further. Because of the breaking apart
of the iron nuclei in the central core,
there is a high concentration of neutrons
(called the neutron flux) that are ejected
from the core during the supernova.
These neutrons are captured by
surrounding nuclei, and then decay to a
proton by emitting an electron and an
antineutrino. Each captured neutron will
cause the atomic number of that
nucleus to go up by one upon its decay.

http://aether.lbl.gov/www/tour/elements/stellar/stellar_a.html
Abundance of the chemical elements in the Universe

WMAP = Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe

WMAP data reveals that its contents include 4.6% atoms, the building blocks of stars
and planets. Dark matter comprises 23% of the universe. This matter, different from
atoms, does not emit or absorb light. It has only been detected indirectly by its
gravity. 72% of the universe, is composed of "dark energy", that acts as a sort of an
anti-gravity. This energy, distinct from dark matter, is responsible for the present-
day acceleration of the universal expansion.
Composition of the Milky Way
Estimated abundances of the chemical
elements in the Solar system
 The Solar System - Its Origin
and Early Development

Our solar system, part

of the Milky Way
galaxy, consists of
the Sun, eight
(nine?) planets, 64
known moons,
many asteroids,
millions of comets
and meteorites, as
well as
interplanetary dust
and gases
 The YOUNG Earth
• Formation of Solar System
– ~4.6 billion years ago
• No rocks are known for the first
– ~0.500 billion years of geologic time
• The oldest known rocks on Earth
– ~4.031 ± 0.003 billion year Acasta Gneiss of the
Slave craton in northwestern Canada
• Oldest dated Minerals
– The Jack Hills Zircons ~4.400 billion years ago.
• CAI’s (Calcium–Aluminium-rich
Inclusion) is a submillimeter- to
centimeter-sized light-
colored inclusion found
in carbonaceous chondrite meteorites.
They are probably the oldest
substances in the Solar System, which
formed approximately 4567.30 ±
0.16 Ma.
 Hot, Barren, Waterless Early Earth

• about 4.6 billion years ago

• Shortly after accretion, Earth was

– a rapidly rotating, hot, barren, waterless planet
– bombarded by comets and meteorites
– with no continents, intense cosmic radiation
– and widespread volcanism
• Earth formed about 4.6 billion years ago from
coalescing interstellar dust.
• Earth was bombarded by large
planetesimals adding to earth’s mass (adds
heat)
• Hot spinning pre-earth mass melted, caused
differentiation of materials according to
density.
• Distinct earth layers begin to form
– Dense iron and nickel migrate to center (core)
– silicate material moves out to mantle
Estimated abundances of the chemical
elements in the EARTH
Earth's crustal elemental abundance
The Periodic Table
 Goldschmidt classification
• Lithophile: remain on or close to the surface because they combine
readily with oxygen

• Siderophile (from sideron, "iron", and philia, "love"): high-

density transition metals which tend to sink into the core because
they dissolve readily in iron either as solid solutions or in the molten
state

• Chalcophile: remain on or close to the surface because they

combine readily with sulfur other than oxygen, forming compounds
which do not sink into the core.

• Atmophile: ("volatile elements") defined as those that remain

mostly on or above the surface because they are, or occur in, liquids
and/or gases at temperatures and pressures found on the surface.
 Movie
• http://www.johnkyrk.com/evolution.html