Tellurium in Rocks

The atmospheric burden of sulfur oxides is of interest because of the environmental effects of these acidic products. The heavier chalcogen elements, Se and Te, occur in association with S in nature. Measurements of Se, Te, and 10 other elements in bulk atmospheric aerosol samples show a general enrichment of chalcogen and other volatile elements with Se and Te displaying enrichment factors (EF) relative to crustal abundances of about 2000 and 12 000, respectively. The distribution of Se, Te, and 10 other elements was also investigated in aerodynamically sized fractions of aerosols. The results show that a large fraction of the lithophile elements, like Fe, Al, and Ca, are contained in the coarse aerosols (\u3e2 µm). Most of the Te, Se, and other heavy volatile metals are contained in the fine aerosols (\u3c2 µm), which account for 75% and 79% of the Te and Se, respectively