Atomic number: 4. Atomic weight: 9.01218. Valence: +2. Discovered by Vauquelin in 1798. Beryllium is a low abundance lithophile trace element in geologic systems. In terms of its geochemical behavior, Be shows little similarity to other alkaline earth elements. Seawater Be abundances are very low (0.18 pg/g; Measures and Edmond, 1983). While ridgecrest hydrothermal fluids are enriched by a factor of 103 over seawater (0.09–0.8 ppb Be; Measures and Edmond, 1983), even these solutions are ∼103 times lower in Be than terrestrial rocks.
Be abundances in mid-ocean ridge basalts (MORBs) and basalts from volcanic arcs range from 0.1 to 1.0 ppm; basalts from intraplate settings are nearly an order of magnitude higher in Be, ranging from 0.8 to 10 ppm (Ryan and Langmuir, 1988; Ryan et al., 1996). Differentiated arc lavas, marine sediments and crustal rocks all show similar Be abundance ranges, from 1 to 3 ppm (Ryan and Langmuir, 1988; Ryan et al., 1996). During magmatic and hydrothermal...
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Ryan, J.G. (1998). Beryllium . In: Geochemistry. Encyclopedia of Earth Science. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/1-4020-4496-8_23
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