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Iridium

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  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Geochemistry

Part of the book series: Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series ((EESS))

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FormalPara Element Data

Atomic Symbol: Ir

Atomic Number: 77

Atomic Weight: 192.217(3)

Isotopes and Abundances: 191Ir 37.3 ± 2 % and 193Ir 62.7 ± 2 %

Atm Melting Point: 2447 °C

1 Atm Boiling Point: 4428 °C

Common Valences: +3 and +4

Ionic Radii: 3+: 68 pm, 4+: 63 pm

Pauling Electronegativity: 2.20

First Ionization Energy: 880 kJ/mol

Chondritic (CI) Abundance: 462 μg/kg (Fischer-Gödde et al., 2010)

Silicate Earth Abundance: 3.5 μg/kg (Becker et al., 2006)

Crustal Abundance: 0.022 μg/kg (Park et al., 2012)

Seawater Abundance: 0.5 to 1 fmol/kg

Core Abundance: ~2.6 mg/kg (McDonough, 2014)

Properties

Iridium (77Ir) with the electron configuration [Xe] 4f 14 5d 7 6s 2 is a d-block transition element in the cobalt group (cobalt, rhodium, iridium, and meitnerium) and is one of the six platinum group elements (PGE) . The atomic radii of the Os, Ir, Pt subgroup, caused by the lanthanide contraction of the 4fgroup elements, are similar compared to the Ru, Rh, Pd subgroup of the PGE. The almost...

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References

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. General and Analytical Chemistry, Montanuniversität, Franz-Josef-Strasse 18, Leoben, A-8700, Austria

    Thomas C. Meisel

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  1. Thomas C. Meisel
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Correspondence to Thomas C. Meisel .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Earth, Cornell University Department of Earth, Ithaca, New York, USA

    William M. White

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Meisel, T.C. (2016). Iridium. In: White, W. (eds) Encyclopedia of Geochemistry. Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-39193-9_259-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-39193-9_259-1

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  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-39193-9

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