EVERYDAY SCIENCE

Detailed explanation-1: -Mercury is an extremely rare element in Earth’s crust, having an average crustal abundance by mass of only 0.08 parts per million (ppm).

Detailed explanation-2: -Messenger used X-ray fluorescence spectra to study the surface composition of Mercury. It found a high ratio of magnesium to silicon and low ratios of aluminum and calcium to silicon, which showed that the crust was not rich in feldspar like that of the Moon.

Detailed explanation-3: -Natural abundance Mercury rarely occurs uncombined in nature, but can be found as droplets in cinnabar (mercury sulfide) ores. China and Kyrgyzstan are the main producers of mercury.

Detailed explanation-4: -In its inorganic form, mercury occurs abundantly in the environment, primarily as the minerals cinnabar and metacinnabar, and as impurities in other minerals. Mercury can readily combine with chlorine, sulfur, and other elements, and subsequently weather to form inorganic salts.