![]() However, Earth's inner core is thought to be an iron-nickel alloy and the outer core is a melt primarily composed of iron and nickel. ![]() Weathering removes some of the original rock components, creating residual deposits where elements such as nickel may be concentrated.Įarth's nickel core: The average crustal abundance of nickel is only about 100 parts per million. Laterite deposits form in warm, humid, tropical or subtropical environments when igneous rocks with low amounts of silica and high amounts of magnesium are broken down by chemical weathering. Laterite deposits host approximately 60 percent of the world's nickel resources. ![]() Parts of Earth's crust near the impact melted and formed a large layer of magma in the resulting crater nickel-bearing sulfide liquid collected along the base of the magma layer, and nickel- and copper-bearing sulfide minerals crystallized from it. The complex is unique because it was formed when an extraterrestrial body, likely an asteroid or comet, hit Earth about 1,850 million years ago. The Sudbury Igneous Complex is Canada's leading source of nickel and the second largest nickel sulfide deposit in the world. The sulfide minerals often contain cobalt, copper, or platinum-group metals as well. Because the sulfur-rich liquid is denser than the magma, the liquid sinks and accumulates along the base of magma chambers, intrusions, or lava flows, where nickel-bearing sulfide minerals may then crystallize. A sulfur-rich liquid may separate from the magma ions of nickel, and some other elements, may move into it. Nickel deposits may develop if magma that contains low amounts of silica and high amounts of magnesium becomes saturated in sulfur, usually through reacting with rocks in Earth's crust. Magmatic sulfide deposits contain about 40 percent of global nickel resources and currently are the source of more than one-half of the world's nickel supply. Also, manganese nodules and crusts on the deep sea floor may contain as much nickel as the deposits known onshore, but they are not currently being mined. In Earth's crust, two major types of ore deposits supply most of the nickel used today: magmatic sulfide deposits (such as the pentlandite and pyrrhotite deposits found at Norilsk, Russia Sudbury, Ontario, Canada and Kambalda, Australia) and laterite deposits (including those found in Cuba, New Caledonia, and Indonesia). Nickel is the fifth most abundant element in the Earth, but most of that nickel is located in the core, more than 1,800 miles below the surface. The massive nickel ore consists of the minerals pentlandite and pyrrhotite, which surround fragments of igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic rocks that were ripped from the walls of the crater by the impact of an extraterrestrial body. Nickel ore from the Sudbury Igneous Complex. This is a specimen of pentlandite in pyrrhotite approximately four inches across. Nickel ore: A sample of nickel ore from the Sudbury Igneous Complex. Photo copyright Aerolite Meteorites / Geoffrey Notkin. This Sikhote-Alin iron meteorite has a composition of about 93% iron, 6% nickel and 1% trace elements. Meteorite: Most of Earth's nickel originated from meteorite impacts during the early formation of our planet. ![]() Although many nickel alloys, including stainless steel, do not cause health problems, special precautions must be taken to ensure the safety of those working with certain other nickel compounds and even metallic nickel because they have been known to cause cancer. Some people are sensitive to nickel and may develop contact dermatitis if their skin comes in close contact with it. Nickel is an essential trace element for some animals. He originally called the element kupfernickel because it was found in rock that looked like copper (kupfer) ore and because miners thought that "bad spirits" (nickel) in the rock were making it difficult for them to extract copper from it. Nickel was first identified as a unique element in 1751 by Baron Axel Fredrik Cronstedt, a Swedish mineralogist and chemist. Nickel is a silvery-white metal that is used mainly to make stainless steel and other alloys stronger and better able to withstand extreme temperatures and corrosive environments.
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