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The abundance of the chemical elements is a measure of the occurrences of the chemical elements relative to all other elements in a given environment. Abundance is measured in one of three ways: by mass fraction (in commercial contexts often called weight fraction), by mole fraction (fraction of atoms by numerical count, or sometimes fraction of molecules in gases), or by volume fraction.
Silicon is a bioessential element and is one of the most abundant elements on Earth. [61] [62] The silica cycle has significant overlap with the carbon cycle (see the carbonate–silicate cycle) and plays an important role in the sequestration of carbon through continental weathering, biogenic export and burial as oozes on geologic timescales. [63]
Oxygen is the third most abundant chemical element in the universe, after hydrogen and helium. [68] About 0.9% of the Sun's mass is oxygen. [19] Oxygen constitutes 49.2% of the Earth's crust by mass [69] as part of oxide compounds such as silicon dioxide and is the most abundant element by mass in the Earth's crust.
Although oxygen is the most abundant element in Earth's crust, due to its high reactivity it mostly exists in compound forms such as water, carbon dioxide, iron oxides and silicates. Before photosynthesis evolved, Earth's atmosphere had no free diatomic elemental oxygen (O 2). [2]
An atmosphere of N 2 and CO 2 with trace amounts of H 2 O, CH 4, carbon monoxide (CO), and hydrogen (H 2) is described as a weakly reducing atmosphere. [16] Such an atmosphere contains practically no oxygen. The modern atmosphere contains abundant oxygen (nearly 21%), making it an oxidizing atmosphere. [17]
Hydrogen is the most abundant element to the universe—it's actually element number one—and the atomic weight is 1.008, so 10/08 is designated National Hydrogen and Fuel Cell day, because many ...
While there are many abiotic sources and sinks for O 2, the presence of the profuse concentration of free oxygen in modern Earth's atmosphere and ocean is attributed to O 2 production from the biological process of oxygenic photosynthesis in conjunction with a biological sink known as the biological pump and a geologic process of carbon burial involving plate tectonics.
Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?: History — Where the Past Comes to Haunt You . When did the American Revolutionary War begin? Answer: 1775. What war started on April 12, 1861?