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⇱ The mineralogy of Nitrogen

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The mineralogy of Nitrogen

General Properties
Symbol:N
Commodity pages:Nitrates
Atomic Number:7
Standard atomic weight (Ar):14.0067(2)
Electron configuration:[He] 2s2 2p3
Photos
<
Vial of glowing ultrapure nitrogen
>
Atomic Properties
Electronegativity (Pauling scale):3.04
Atomic Radius:56 pm
Ionic Radius:146 pm (-3)
Van der Waals Radius:155 pm
1st Ionization energy:1402 kJ/mol
1st Electron affinity:-7 kJ/mol
Oxidation States:-3,-2,-1,1,2,3,4,5
Physical Properties
Standard State:gas
Bonding Type:diatomic
Melting Point:63 K
Boiling Point:77 K
Metal/Non-Metal:nonmetal
Main isotopes of Nitrogen
Isotope% in NatureHalf LifeDecay typeDecay product
13Nsynthetic9.965minε13C
14N99.634%stable
15N0.366%stable
Main ions of Nitrogen
NameIonExample minerals
ammoniumNH4+Salammoniac, Teschemacherite
nitrideN3-Osbornite, Siderazot
nitriteNO2-
nitrateNO3-Niter, Nitratine, Nitrocalcite
Other Information
Year Discovered:1772
Discovered By:
Named For:from the Greek: nitron - "sodium carbonate" and -genes - "producer"
CPK color coding:#3050F8
External Links:WikipediaWebElementsLos Alamos National LaboratoryTheodore Gray's PeriodicTable.com
Simple Compounds
HydridesammoniaNH3+3
Fluoridesnitrogen trifluorideNF3+3
dinitrogen tetrafluorideN2F4+2
cis-difluorodiazineN2F2+1
trans-difluorodiazineN2F2+1
Chloridesnitrogen trichlorideNCl3+3
Iodidesnitrogen triiodideNI3+3
Oxidesnitrous oxideN2O+1
nitrogen dioxideNO2+4
nitrogen monoxideNO+2
dinitrogen trioxideN2O3+3
dinitrogen tetraoxideN2O4+4
dinitrogen pentoxideN2O5+5
Mineral Diversity of Nitrogen
1. Elements 10 valid mineral species
3. Halides21 valid mineral species
4. Oxides 8 valid mineral species
5. Carbonates 16 valid mineral species
6. Borates2 valid mineral species
7. Sulfates 47 valid mineral species
8. Phosphates, Arsenates, Vanadates22 valid mineral species
9. Silicates 7 valid mineral species
10. Organic Compounds22 valid mineral species
Total:155 valid species containing essential Nitrogen
Minerals with the greatest weight % of Nitrogen
DeltanitrogenN100.00 %
QingsongiteBN56.44 %
UreaCO(NH2)246.65 %
GuanineC5H5N5O46.34 %
NieriteSi3N439.94 %
MarchettiiteC5H7N5O337.83 %
AllantoinC4H6N4O335.43 %
Gwihabaite(NH4,K)NO335.00 %
UriciteC5H4N4O333.33 %
ShiloviteCu(NH3)4(NO3)232.87 %
Geochemistry of Nitrogen
Goldschmidt classification:Atmophile
N5+ solute can be a limiting nutrient in the growth of bacteria.
N3- solute can be a limiting nutrient in the growth of bacteria.
N5+ solute can be a limiting nutrient in the oceans.
N5+ solute is a macronutrient on land.
Elemental Abundance for Nitrogen
Crust (CRC Handbook)1.9 x 10-5mass fraction, kg/kg
Crust (Kaye & Laby)2.0 x 10-5mass fraction, kg/kg
Crust (Greenwood)1.9 x 10-5mass fraction, kg/kg
Sea Water (CRC Handbook)5 x 10-7mass per volume fraction, kg/L
Sea Water (Kaye & Laby)1.6 x 10-5mass per volume fraction, kg/L
Atmosphere (NASA)78.084%as N2
The Sun (Kaye & Laby)3.1 x 100atom mole fraction relative to Si=1
Solar System (Kaye & Laby)3.1 x 100atom mole fraction relative to Si=1
Solar System (Ahrens)3.13 x 100atom mole fraction relative to Si=1 (% uncertainty)
Element association of Nitrogen in the Mineral World
This table compares the known valid mineral species listed listed with Nitrogen and the other elements listed based on the official IMA formula. Note that unlike other sections on this page this includes non-essential elements.

The first data column contains the total number of minerals listed with Nitrogen and the element listed for that row.

The second data column lists this number as a percentage of all minerals listed with Nitrogen.

The final data column compares this percentage against the percentage of all minerals that contain the element listed in each row.

Click on a heading to sort.
ElementValid Minerals listed with element and Nitrogen% of N mineralsRelative to % in all minerals
Hydrogen145 minerals with N and H91.77%64.71% higher
Oxygen140 minerals with N and O88.61%9.18% higher
Sulfur56 minerals with N and S35.44%60.78% higher
Carbon28 minerals with N and C17.72%116.64% higher
Chlorine27 minerals with N and Cl17.09%131.20% higher
Phosphorus25 minerals with N and P15.82%28.61% higher
Aluminium24 minerals with N and Al15.19%23.74% lower
Sodium24 minerals with N and Na15.19%18.68% lower
Iron23 minerals with N and Fe14.56%35.20% lower
Potassium19 minerals with N and K12.03%20.45% higher
Magnesium15 minerals with N and Mg9.49%28.88% lower
Copper14 minerals with N and Cu8.86%34.73% lower
Uranium14 minerals with N and U8.86%73.04% higher
Silicon12 minerals with N and Si7.59%72.48% lower
Calcium9 minerals with N and Ca5.70%77.12% lower
Arsenic9 minerals with N and As5.70%56.11% lower
Vanadium9 minerals with N and V5.70%18.31% higher
Fluorine5 minerals with N and F3.16%59.89% lower
Mercury5 minerals with N and Hg3.16%77.04% higher
Nickel5 minerals with N and Ni3.16%7.30% lower
Boron4 minerals with N and B2.53%49.77% lower
Bromine4 minerals with N and Br2.53%824.80% higher
Lead4 minerals with N and Pb2.53%76.54% lower
Molybdenum3 minerals with N and Mo1.90%20.32% higher
Zinc3 minerals with N and Zn1.90%66.21% lower
Chromium2 minerals with N and Cr1.27%31.65% lower
Manganese2 minerals with N and Mn1.27%89.14% lower
Iodine2 minerals with N and I1.27%138.20% higher
Bismuth2 minerals with N and Bi1.27%69.88% lower
Cobalt1 mineral with N and Co0.63%48.96% lower
Barium1 mineral with N and Ba0.63%86.40% lower
Titanium1 mineral with N and Ti0.63%90.99% lower
Selenium1 mineral with N and Se0.63%76.32% lower
Tin1 mineral with N and Sn0.63%65.52% lower
Antimony1 mineral with N and Sb0.63%88.83% lower
Periodic Table
1H 2He
3Li 4Be 5B 6C 7N 8O 9F 10Ne
11Na 12Mg 13Al 14Si 15P 16S 17Cl 18Ar
19K 20Ca 21Sc 22Ti 23V 24Cr 25Mn 26Fe 27Co 28Ni 29Cu 30Zn 31Ga 32Ge 33As 34Se 35Br 36Kr
37Rb 38Sr 39Y 40Zr 41Nb 42Mo 43Tc 44Ru 45Rh 46Pd 47Ag 48Cd 49In 50Sn 51Sb 52Te 53I 54Xe
55Cs 56Ba 57La 72Hf 73Ta 74W 75Re 76Os 77Ir 78Pt 79Au 80Hg 81Tl 82Pb 83Bi 84Po 85At 86Rn
87Fr 88Ra 89Ac 104Rd 105Db 106Sg 107Bh 108Hs 109Mt 110Ds 111Rg 112Cn 113Nh 114Fl 115Mc 116Lv 117Ts 118Og
58Ce 59Pr 60Nd 61Pm 62Sm 63Eu 64Gd 65Tb 66Dy 67Ho 68Er 69Tm 70Yb 71Lu
90Th 91Pa 92U 93Np 94Pu 95Am 96Cm 97Bk 98Cf 99Es 100Fm 101Md 102No 103Lr
Default Categories CPK Electronegativity Atomic Radius Lowest Oxidation Highest Oxidation Crustal Abundance Goldschmidt Mineral Species Minerals with N Relative Frequency
Carbon << Nitrogen >> Oxygen


Most widespread minerals containing Nitrogen
This list of minerals containing Nitrogen is built from the mindat.org locality database. This is based on the number of localities entered for mineral species and is therefore slanted towards minerals interesting to collectors with less coverage of common rock-forming-minerals so it does not give an undistorted distribution of Nitrogen mineral species. It is more useful when comparing rare species rather than common species.
NameFormulaCrystal SystemMindat Localities
NiterKNO3Orthorhombic209
SalammoniacNH4ClIsometric137
NitratineNaNO3Trigonal107
Tschermigite(NH4)Al(SO4)2 · 12H2OIsometric99
Mascagnite(NH4)2SO4Orthorhombic76
Melanophlogite46SiO2 · 6(N2,CO2) · 2(CH4,N2)Tetragonal49
NitrocalciteCa(NO3)2 · 4H2OMonoclinic49
Boussingaultite(NH4)2Mg(SO4)2 · 6H2OMonoclinic41
Ammoniojarosite(NH4)Fe3+3(SO4)2(OH)6Trigonal39
Struvite(NH4)Mg(PO4) · 6H2OOrthorhombic37
Photos

Localities with greatest number of different Nitrogen mineral species
1Anna mine, Alsdorf, Aachen, Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany21 N minerals
2Pécs-Vasas, Pécs District, Baranya County, Hungary20 N minerals
3La Fossa crater, Vulcano Island, Lipari, Eolie Islands (Aeolian Islands), Metropolitan City of Messina, Sicily, Italy19 N minerals
4125 foot level, Rowley Mine, Theba, Painted Rock Mining District, Painted Rock Mountains, Maricopa County, Arizona, USA17 N minerals
5Marcel mine heap, Radlin, Wodzisław County, Silesian Voivodeship, Poland16 N minerals
6Pabellón de Pica, Chanabaya, Iquique, Iquique Province, Tarapacá, Chile14 N minerals
7Huron Shale burn site, Huron River, Huron County, Ohio, USA14 N minerals
Heřmanice, Ostrava, Ostrava-City District, Moravian-Silesian Region, Czech Republic13 N minerals


Spotted a mistake/omission? - These pages are a work in progress, so please send all comments/corrections to jolyon@mindat.org. Thank you.

Constants and physical property data from:

Lide, David R. - Ed. (2005) CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics - A Ready-Reference Book of Chemical and Physical Data (85th ed.). CRC Press.
National Physical Laboratory (2005) Kaye and Laby Online (discontinued). https://web.archive.org/web/20190506031327/http://www.kayelaby.npl.co.uk/
Kaye, G. W. C.; Laby, T. H. (n.d.) Tables of Physical and Chemical Constants and some Mathematical Functions. Longmans, Green, and Co.
Greenwood, N.N.; Earnshaw, A. (1997) Chemistry of the Elements (2nd ed.). Butterworth–Heinemann.
Ahrens, Thomas J. - Ed. (1995) Global Earth Physics - A Handbook of Physical Constants - AGU Reference Shelf No. 1. American Geophysical Union.
Railsback, L. Bruce (2003) An earth scientist's periodic table of the elements and their ions. Geology, 31 (9) 737 doi:10.1130/g19542.1
Emsley, John (2001) Nature's Building Blocks - An A-Z Guide to the Elements. Oxford University Press, Oxford.
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