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Phosphorus And Its Role In Chemical Evolution, Asbel Gonzalez

PANDION: The Osprey Journal of Research and Ideas

Phosphorus is a minor element with a cosmic abundance of about 105.5 atoms per 1012 H atoms (Boudreaux, n.d.). Phosphorus was depleted as a volatile throughout the developing solar system, and as a result, volatile forms of phosphorus would have been minimal, even in the colder regions of the solar nebula. Despite its low abundance, phosphorus minerals play key roles in planetary petrology, including through the formation of phosphate minerals that trapped volatiles and rare Earth elements, and in the formation of metal phosphides that may have served as nucleation sites for kamacite and taenite crystal growth in minor planet …