Atomic Symbol: B
Atomic Number: 5
Atomic Weight: [10.806, 10.821]
Isotopes and Abundances: 10B: 19.9 ± 7 %, 11B: 80.1 ± 7
1 Atm Melting Point: 2,350 °C
1 Atm Boiling Point: 4,000 °C
Common Valences: +3
Ionic Radii: atomic radius = 87 pm, covalent radius = 84 pm
Pauling Electronegativity: 2.04
First Ionization Potential: 800.6 kJ.mol−1
Chondritic (CI) Abundance: 0.78 ppm (16.9 ± 2.2 atoms/106Si)
Silicate Earth Abundance: 0.26 ± 0.04 ppm
Crustal Abundance: 17 ppm
Seawater Abundance: 4.5 ppm
Core Abundance: ~0
Properties
Boron is a metalloid with a rhombohedral crystal structure. This element belongs to the group 13 and period 2 of the periodic table (Figure 1). Boron has sixteen known isotopes of which two are stable, 10B and 11B, of relative atomic mass 10.01293695(41) and 11.00930536(45) (source of data: National Institute of Standards and Technology): http://www.nist.gov/pml/data/comp.cfm. Geochemists measure the relative variations in the 11B/10B of...
References
Aggarwal, J., Palmer, M. R., Bullen, T. D., Arnorsson, S., and Ragnarsdottir, K. V., 2000. The boron isotope systematics of Icelandic geothermal waters: 1. Meteoric water charged system. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 64, 579–585.
Agulhon, H., 1910. Présence et utilité du bore chez les végétaux. Annales de l’Institut Pasteur (Paris), 24, 321–329.
Bebout, G. E., Ryan, J. G., Leeman, W. P., and Bebout, A. E., 1999. Fractionation of trace elements by subduction-zone metamorphism – Effect of convergent margin thermal evolution. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 171, 63–82.
Broecker, W. S., and Peng, T.-H., 1982. Tracers in the Sea. Lamont-Doherty Geol. Observation. Palisades, NY: Eldigo Press. 690 pp.
Brown, J., Colling, A., Park, D., Philliips, J., Rothery, D., and Wright, J., 1989. Seawater: Its Composition, Properties and Behaviour. The Open University. Oxford: Pergamon Press. 165 pp.
Butterwick, L., de Oude, N., and Raymond, K., 1989. Safety assessment of boron in aquatic and terrestrial environments. Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety, 17, 339–371.
Catanzaro, E. J., Champion, C. E., Garner, E. L., Marinenko, G., Sappenfield, K. M., Shields, W. R., 1970. Standard Reference Materials: Boric Acid; Isotopic, and Assay Standard Reference Materials. U.S. National Bureau of Standards, Spec. Pub. 206–17, 70 pp.
Chaussidon, M., 1995. Isotope geochemistry of boron in mantle rocks, tektites and meteorites. Comptes Rendus- Academie des Sciences Paris, 321, 455–472.
Chaussidon, M., and Jambon, A., 1994. Boron content and isotopic composition of oceanic basalts: geochemical and cosmochemical implications. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 121, 277–291.
Chaussidon, M., and Robert, F., 1995. Nucleosynthesis of 11B-rich boron in the presolar cloud recorded in meteoric chondrules. Nature, 374, 337–339.
Choi, W.-W., and Chen, K. Y., 1979. Evaluation of boron removal by adsorption on solids. Environmental Science and Technology, 13, 189–196.
Coursey, J. S., Schwab, D. J., Tsai, J. J., and Dragoset, R. A., 2010. Atomic Weights and Isotopic Compositions. Gaithersburg, MD: National Institute of Standards and Technology.
Culberson, C., and Pytkowicz, R. M., 1967. Effect of pressure on carbonic acid, boric acid and the pH of seawater. Science, 157, 59–61.
Davy, H., 1808. Electro-chemical researches, on the decomposition of the Earths; with observations on the metals obtained from the alkaline earths, and on the amalgam procured from ammonia. Philosophical Transactions Royal Society of London, 98, 333–370.
Dembitsky, V. M., Smoum, R., Al-Quntar, A. A., Ali, H. A., Pergament, I., and Srebnik, M., 2002. Natural occurrence of boron-containing compounds in plants, algae and microorganisms. Plant Science, 163, 931–942.
Felmy, A., and Weare, J. H., 1986. The prediction of borate mineral equilibria in natural waters: application to Searles Lake, California. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 50, 2771–2783.
Gay-Lussac, J. L., and Thénard, L. J., 1808. Sur la décomposition et la recomposition de l'acide boracique. Annales de Chimie Physique, 68, 169–174.
Gemery-Hill, P. A., Shanks, W. C. III, Balistrieri, L. S., Lee, G. K., 2007. Geochemical data for selected drivers, lake waters, hydrothermal vents, and subaerial geysers in Yellowstone National Park. In: Morgan, L. A. (ed.), Integrated Geoscience Studies in the Greater Yellowstone Area: Volcanic, Tectonic, and Hydrothermal Processes in the Yellowstone Geoecosystem: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper. U.S. Department of the Interior Reston, Vinginia. 1717, pp. 365–426.
Gill, J. B., 1981. Orogenic Andesites and Plate Tectonics. New York: Springer. 390 pp.
Goldschmidt, V. M., 1926. Geochemische Verteilungsgesetze der Elemente. Oslo: Skrifter Norske Videnskaps – Akad. (I) Mat. Natur.
Hawthorne, F. C., 1996. Structural mechanisms for light-element variations in tourmaline. Canadian Mineralogist, 34, 123–132.
Haynes, W. M., 2015. CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics, 95th edn. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press/Taylor and Francis.
Hemming, N. G., and Hanson, G. N., 1992. Boron isotopic composition and concentration in modern marine carbonates. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 56, 537–543.
Hu, H., and Brown, P. H., 1997. Absorption of boron by plant roots. Plant and Soil, 193, 49–58.
Leeman, W. P., and Sisson, V. B., 1996. Geochemistry of boron and its implications for crustal and mantle processes. Reviews in Mineralogy, 33, 645–707. Virginia: Minenalogical Society of America Chantillly.
Lemarchand, D., Gaillardet, J., Lewin, E., and Allègre, C. J., 2000. The influence of rivers on marine boron isotopes and implications for reconstructing past ocean pH. Nature, 403, 951–954.
Lodders, K., 2010. Solar system abundances of the elements. In Goswami, A., and Reddy, B. E. (eds.), Principles and Perspectives in Cosmochemistry. Astrophysics and Space Science Proceedings. Berlin/Heidelberg: Springer, pp. 379–417.
Menard, G., Vlastélic, I., Ionov, D. A., Rose-Koga, E. F., Piro, J.-L., and Pin, C., 2013. Precise and accurate determination of boron concentration in silicate rocks by direct isotope dilution ICP-MS: insights into the B budget of the mantle and B behavior in magmatic systems. Chemical Geology, 354, 139–149.
Moissan, H., 1895. Etude du bore amorphe. Annales de Chimie Physique, 6, 296–320.
Morris, J. D., Leeman, W. P., and Tera, F., 1990. The subducted component in island arc lavas: constraints from Be isotopes and B-Be systematics. Nature, 344, 31–36.
Moseman, R. F., 1994. Chemical disposition of boron in animals and humans. Environmental Health Perspectives, 102, 113–117.
Musashi, M., Oi, T., Ossaka, T., and Kakihana, H., 1991. Natural boron isotope fractionation between hot spring water and rock in direct contact. Isotopenraxis, 27, 163–166.
Pfeiffer, C. C., Hallman, L. F., and Gersh, I., 1945. Boric acid ointment – a study of possible intoxication in the treatment of burns. The Journal of the American Medical Association, 128, 266–274.
Rosner, M., Erzinger, J., Franz, G., and Trumbull, R. B., 2003. Slab-derived boron isotope signatures in arc volcanic rocks from the Central Andes and evidence for boron isotope fractionation during progressive slab dehydration. Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, doi:10.1029/2002GC000438.
Rudnick, R. L., and Gao, S., 2005. Composition of the continental crust. In Rudnick, R. L. (ed.), Treatise on Geochemistry. Oxford: Elsevier-Pergamon. The Crust, Vol. 3, pp. 1–64.
Ryan, J. G., and Langmuir, C. H., 1993. The systematics of boron abundances in young volcanic rocks. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 57, 1489–1498.
Seyfried, W. E., Janecky, D. R., and Mottl, M. J., 1984. Alteration of the oceanic crust: Implications for geochemical cycles of lithium and boron. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 48, 557–569.
Shaw, D. M., Higgins, M. D., Hinton, R. W., Truscott, M. G., and Middleton, T. A., 1988. Boron in chondritic meteorites. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 52, 2311–2319.
Simon, L., Lécuyer, C., Maréchal, C., and Coltice, N., 2006. Modelling the geochemical cycle of boron: implications for the long-term δ11B evolution of seawater and oceanic crust. Chemical Geology, 225, 61–76.
Sisk, D. B., Colvin, B. M., and Bridges, C. R., 1988. Acute, fatal illness in cattle exposed to boron fertilizer. Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, 193, 943–945.
Spivack, A. J., and Edmond, J. M., 1987. Boron isotopic exchange between seawater and the oceanic crust. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 51, 1033–1043.
Straub, S. M., and Layne, G. D., 2002. The systematics of boron isotopes in Izu arc front volcanic rocks. Earth and Planetary Sciences, 198, 25–39.
Travis, N. J., and Cocks, E. J., 1984. The Tincal Trail – A History of Borax. London: Harrap.
Vengosh, A., Kolodny, Y., Starinsky, A., Chivas, A. R., and McCulloch, M. T., 1991. Coprecipitation and isotopic fractionation of boron in modern biogenic carbonates. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 55, 2901–2910.
Warington, K., 1923. The effect of boric acid and borax on the broad bean and certain other plants. Annals of Botany, 37, 629–672.
Weintraub, E., 1911. On the properties and preparation of the element boron. Journal of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry, 3, 299–301.
Wisniak, J., 2005. Borax, boric acid, and boron – from exotic to commodity. Indian Journal of Chemical Technology, 12, 488–500.
Xiao, J., Xiao, Y.-K., Jin, Z.-D., He, M.-Y., and Liu, C.-Q., 2013. Boron isotope variations and its geochemical application in nature. Australian Journal of Earth Sciences, 60, 431–447.
Zhai, M., and Shaw, D. M., 1994. Boron cosmochemistry. Part I: boron in meteorites. Meteoritics, 29, 607–615.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2016 Springer International Publishing Switzerland
About this entry
Cite this entry
Lécuyer, C. (2016). Boron. In: White, W. (eds) Encyclopedia of Geochemistry. Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-39193-9_253-1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-39193-9_253-1
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-39193-9
eBook Packages: Springer Reference Earth and Environm. ScienceReference Module Physical and Materials ScienceReference Module Earth and Environmental Sciences