The abundance of antimony in meteorites, tektites and rocks by neutron activation analysis

Antimony has been determined by neutron activation in twenty-four chondrites, eight achondrites, three siderites, five separated meteoritic phases, twelve tektites, six natural glasses, eleven standard rocks fifteen selected terrestrial rocks and eight deep-sea sediments. The data confirm the expectation that antimony has appreciable siderophilic and chalcophilic properties in the meteorites. A cosmic atomic abundance for antimony of 0.40 (Si = 106) was obtained based on two Type I carbonaceous chondrites analyzed. This value is considerably higher than is predicted by current theories of nucleosynthesis. The ordinary chondrites are relatively uniform with respect to their antimony abundances and average 0.11 (Si = 106). The relatively few analyses of terrestrial rocks and sediments reported here suggest a rather complex geochemistry for antimony. Using the available data a crustal antimony abundance of approximately 0.2 ppm is indicated.