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The concentration of elements in natural sea water (NSW) in parts per million.
Please note that the concentration values obtained from different sources do vary, and the values are changing as more accurate/suitable analytical techniques are utilised.
Also note that composition will vary with the location that the sea water comes from, i.e. proximity to land and river mouths etc.
| Element |
ppm |
| Chlorine, Cl |
19,500 |
| Sodium, Na |
10,770 |
| Magnesium, Mg |
1,290 |
| Sulphur, S |
905 |
| Calcium, Ca |
412 |
| Potassium, K |
380 |
| Bromine, Br |
67 |
| Carbon, C |
28 |
| Nitrogen, N |
11.5 |
| Strontium, Sr |
8 |
| Oxygen, O |
6 |
| Boron, B |
4.4 |
| Silicon, Si |
2 |
| Fluorine, F |
1.3 |
| Argon, Ar |
0.43 |
| Lithium, Li |
0.18 |
| Rubidium, Rb |
0.12 |
| Phosphorus, P |
0.06 |
| Iodine, I |
0.06 |
| Barium, Ba |
0.02 |
| Molybdenium, Mo |
0.01 |
| Arsenic, As |
0.0037 |
| Uranium, U |
0.0032 |
| Vanadium, V |
0.0025 |
| Titanium, Ti |
0.001 |
| Zinc, Zn |
0.0005 |
| Nickel, Ni |
0.00048 |
| Aluminium, Al |
0.0004 |
| Cesium, Cs |
0.0004 |
| Chromium, Cr |
0.0003 |
| Antimony, Sb |
0.00024 |
| Krypton, Kr |
0.0002 |
| Selenium, Se |
0.0002 |
| Neon, Ne |
0.00012 |
| Manganese, Mn |
0.0001 |
| Cadmium, Cd |
0.0001 |
| Copper, Cu |
0.0001 |
| Tungsten, W |
0.0001 |
| Iron, Fe |
0.000055 |
| Xenon, Xe |
0.00005 |
| Zirconium, Zr |
0.00003 |
| Bismuth, Bi |
0.00002 |
| Niobium, Nb |
0.00001 |
| Thallium, Tl |
0.00001 |
| Thorium, Th |
0.00001 |
| Hafnium, Hf |
7 x 10-6 |
| Helium, He |
6.8 x 10-6 |
| Beryllium, Be |
5.6 x 10-6 |
| Germanium, Ge |
5 x 10-6 |
| Gold, Au |
4 x 10-6 |
| Rhenium, Re |
4 x 10-6 |
| Cobalt, Co |
3 x 10-6 |
| Lanthanum, La |
3 x 10-6 |
| Neodymium, Nd |
3 x 10-6 |
| Lead, Pb |
2 x 10-6 |
| Silver, Ag |
2 x 10-6 |
| Tantalum, Ta |
2 x 10-6 |
| Gallium, Ga |
2 x 10-6 |
| Yttrium, Y |
1.3 x 10-6 |
| Mercury, Hg |
1 x 10-6 |
| Cerium, Ce |
1 x 10-6 |
| Dysprosium, Dy |
9 x 10-7 |
| Erbium, Er |
8 x 10-7 |
| Ytterbium, Yb |
8 x 10-7 |
| Gadolinium, Gd |
7 x 10-7 |
| Praseodymium, Pr |
6 x 10-7 |
| Scandium, Sc |
6 x 10-7 |
| Tin, Sn |
6 x 10-7 |
| Holmium, Ho |
2 x 10-7 |
| Lutetium, Lu |
2 x 10-7 |
| Thulium, Tm |
2 x 10-7 |
| Indium, In |
1 x 10-7 |
| Trebium, Tb |
1 x 10-7 |
| Palladium, Pd |
5 x 10-8 |
| Samarium, Sm |
5 x 10-8 |
| Tellurium, Te |
1 x 10-8 |
| Europium, Eu |
1 x 10-8 |
| Radium, Ra |
7 x 10-11 |
| Protactinium, Pa |
5 x 10-11 |
| Radon, Rn |
6 x 10-16 |
Reference
Editor: Bearman G., Ocean chemistry and deep-sea sediments, Pergamon:Sydney, 1989. |
