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Germanium and Gallium in Sea-Water: Germanium

Abstract

No quantitative data have so far been published for the concentration of germanium in sea-water. The first observation of germanium in a specimen of marine origin was due to Cornec1, who detected it spectrographically in the ash of Laminaria sp. Noddack and Noddack2 found the element in nine widely differing marine organisms in amounts ranging from 0.07 to 2.2 p.p.m. They were unable to detect it in sea-water, and concluded that its concentration must be less than 0.1 µgm./l. Bardet et al. 3 attempted to co-precipitate a number of trace elements from 60-l. samples of sea-water from Roscoff (Brittany) using seven different carriers; spectrographic examination of the precipitates revealed the presence of germanium in three cases.

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References

  1. Cornec, E., C.R. Acad. Sci., Paris, 168, 513 (1919).

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  2. Noddack, I., and Noddack, W., Ark. Zool., 32, 1 (1940).

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  3. Bardet, J., Tchakirian, A., and Lagrange, R., C.R. Acad. Sci., Paris, 206, 450 (1938).

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BURTON, J., RILEY, J. Germanium and Gallium in Sea-Water: Germanium. Nature 181, 179–180 (1958). https://doi.org/10.1038/181179a0

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