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The mineralogy of Sulfur

General Properties
Symbol:	S
Atomic Number:	16
Standard atomic weight (A_r):	32.065(5)
Electron configuration:	[Ne] 3s² 3p⁴

Photos

<	Sulphur - S₈	>

Atomic Properties
Electronegativity (Pauling scale):	2.58
Atomic Radius:	88 pm
Ionic Radius:	184 pm (-2)
Van der Waals Radius:	180 pm
1st Ionization energy:	1000 kJ/mol
1st Electron affinity:	-200 kJ/mol
Oxidation States:	-2,-1,1,2,3,4,5,6

Physical Properties
Standard State:	solid
Bonding Type:	covalent network
Melting Point:	388 K
Boiling Point:	718 K
Density:	1.96 g/cm³
Metal/Non-Metal:	nonmetal

Main isotopes of Sulfur
Isotope	% in Nature	Half Life	Decay type	Decay product
³²S	95.02%	stable
³³S	0.75%	stable
³⁴S	4.21%	stable
³⁵S	synthetic	87.32d	β−	³⁵Cl
³⁶S	0.02%	stable

Main ions of Sulfur
Name	Ion	Example minerals
sulfur(IV)	S⁴⁺
sulfur(VI)	S⁶⁺
sulfide	S^2-	Galena, Sphalerite
disulfide	S₂^2-	Pyrite, Marcasite
hydrogen sulfate (bisulfate)	HSO₄^-
hydrogen sulfite (bisulfite)	HSO₃^-
sulfate	SO₄^2-	Gypsum, Baryte, Celestine, Anhydrite
sulfite	SO₃^2-
thiosulfate	S₂O₃^2-

Other Information
Year Discovered:	Ancient
Recognised as an element:	1777
Recognised By:	Antoine Lavoisier
Named For:	from the Latin word sulphurium: "to burn yellow"
CPK color coding:	#FFFF30
External Links:	Wikipedia WebElements Los Alamos National Laboratory Theodore Gray's PeriodicTable.com

Simple Compounds
Nitrides	tetrasulphur tetranitride	S₄N₄	+3
Fluorides	sulfur difluoride	SF₂	+2
	disufur difluoride	FSSF	+1
	sulfur hexafluoride	SF₆	+6
	sulfur tetrafluoride	SF₄	+4
	disulfur decafluoride	S₂F₁₀	+5
	sulfur difluoride sulphide	SSF₂	+2,+4
Chlorides	sulfur dichloride	SCl₂	+2
	disulfur dichloride	ClSSCl	+1
	trisulfur dichloride	S₃Cl₂	+1,+2
	sulfur tetrachloride	SCl₄	+4
Iodides	disulfur diiodide	S₂I₂
Oxides	sulfur dioxide	SO₂	+4
	sulfur trioxide	SO₃	+6
	disulfur oxide	S₂O	+1
	disulfur dioxide	S₂O₂	+3

Sulfur as a chromophore in minerals and gems
Chromophore	Description
S₃^-	Blue colour of lazurite (according to Platonov et al, 1984)
S₂^-	Yellow hues in lazurite - green tones are a combination of S^-₃ and S^-₂.
SO₄^-	Ion radical also proposed as a source of blue coloration in lazurite (Samoilovich)

Mineral Diversity of Sulfur
1. Elements	3 valid mineral species
2. Sulfides And Sulfosalts	645 valid mineral species
3. Halides	12 valid mineral species
4. Oxides	27 valid mineral species
5. Carbonates	15 valid mineral species
6. Borates	4 valid mineral species
7. Sulfates	495 valid mineral species
8. Phosphates, Arsenates, Vanadates	44 valid mineral species
9. Silicates	48 valid mineral species
10. Organic Compounds	6 valid mineral species
Total:	1299 valid species containing essential Sulfur

Geochemistry of Sulfur
Goldschmidt classification:	Chalcophile
S⁶⁺ is one of the eight most abundant solutes in average river water.
S⁶⁺ solute can be a limiting nutrient in the growth of bacteria.
S⁶⁺ solute is a macronutrient on land.
S⁶⁺ is essential to nutrition of at least some vertebrates ('essential minerals').
S^2- forms minerals with Cu⁺.
S^2- forms minerals with Ag⁺.

Elemental Sulfur in Nature
Found as native element:	Sulphur	S₈

Elemental Abundance for Sulfur
Crust (CRC Handbook)	3.50 x 10^-4	mass fraction, kg/kg
Crust (Kaye & Laby)	3.0 x 10^-4	mass fraction, kg/kg
Crust (Greenwood)	3.40 x 10^-4	mass fraction, kg/kg
Crust (Ahrens/Wänke)	8.81 x 10^-4	mass fraction, kg/kg
Sea Water (CRC Handbook)	9.05 x 10^-4	mass per volume fraction, kg/L
Sea Water (Kaye & Laby)	9.0 x 10^-4	mass per volume fraction, kg/L
The Sun (Kaye & Laby)	4.5 x 10^-1	atom mole fraction relative to Si=1
Solar System (Kaye & Laby)	5.2 x 10^-1	atom mole fraction relative to Si=1
Solar System (Ahrens)	5.15 x 10^-1 (13%)	atom mole fraction relative to Si=1 (% uncertainty)

Element association of Sulfur in the Mineral World
This table compares the known valid mineral species listed listed with Sulfur 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 Sulfur and the element listed for that row. The second data column lists this number as a percentage of all minerals listed with Sulfur. 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.

Element	Valid Minerals listed with element and Sulfur	% of S minerals	Relative to % in all minerals
Oxygen	702 minerals with S and O	52.86%	34.92% lower
Hydrogen	564 minerals with S and H	42.47%	24.43% lower
Copper	345 minerals with S and Cu	25.98%	91.17% higher
Lead	290 minerals with S and Pb	21.84%	106.85% higher
Iron	278 minerals with S and Fe	20.93%	8.53% lower
Arsenic	208 minerals with S and As	15.66%	21.01% higher
Antimony	206 minerals with S and Sb	15.51%	176.92% higher
Silver	177 minerals with S and Ag	13.33%	248.15% higher
Aluminium	175 minerals with S and Al	13.18%	34.66% lower
Sodium	169 minerals with S and Na	12.73%	33.29% lower
Calcium	132 minerals with S and Ca	9.94%	60.75% lower
Bismuth	129 minerals with S and Bi	9.71%	133.52% higher
Potassium	129 minerals with S and K	9.71%	3.28% lower
Zinc	99 minerals with S and Zn	7.45%	30.38% higher
Chlorine	86 minerals with S and Cl	6.48%	12.58% lower
Magnesium	83 minerals with S and Mg	6.25%	54.51% lower
Thallium	75 minerals with S and Tl	5.65%	274.48% higher
Nickel	70 minerals with S and Ni	5.27%	53.65% higher
Silicon	68 minerals with S and Si	5.12%	81.53% lower
Uranium	62 minerals with S and U	4.67%	9.42% lower
Manganese	60 minerals with S and Mn	4.52%	62.03% lower
Nitrogen	54 minerals with S and N	4.07%	59.32% higher
Mercury	52 minerals with S and Hg	3.92%	116.76% higher
Carbon	48 minerals with S and C	3.61%	55.58% lower
Tellurium	46 minerals with S and Te	3.46%	0.49% higher
Tin	43 minerals with S and Sn	3.24%	71.38% higher
Fluorine	42 minerals with S and F	3.16%	60.81% lower
Phosphorus	32 minerals with S and P	2.41%	80.56% lower
Cobalt	27 minerals with S and Co	2.03%	57.28% higher
Germanium	24 minerals with S and Ge	1.81%	186.97% higher
Vanadium	23 minerals with S and V	1.73%	63.96% lower
Selenium	21 minerals with S and Se	1.58%	39.99% lower
Cadmium	21 minerals with S and Cd	1.58%	198.18% higher
Chromium	19 minerals with S and Cr	1.43%	21.52% lower
Molybdenum	18 minerals with S and Mo	1.36%	11.10% lower
Platinum	16 minerals with S and Pt	1.20%	54.68% higher
Rhodium	15 minerals with S and Rh	1.13%	172.62% higher
Barium	14 minerals with S and Ba	1.05%	77.20% lower
Palladium	12 minerals with S and Pd	0.90%	35.85% lower
Gold	12 minerals with S and Au	0.90%	32.99% higher
Iridium	12 minerals with S and Ir	0.90%	118.10% higher
Indium	11 minerals with S and In	0.83%	194.00% higher
Yttrium	9 minerals with S and Y	0.68%	71.00% lower
Boron	9 minerals with S and B	0.68%	86.55% lower
Iodine	9 minerals with S and I	0.68%	27.79% higher
Strontium	7 minerals with S and Sr	0.53%	81.07% lower
Titanium	7 minerals with S and Ti	0.53%	92.59% lower
Cerium	6 minerals with S and Ce	0.45%	85.73% lower
Neodymium	5 minerals with S and Nd	0.38%	58.69% lower
Tungsten	5 minerals with S and W	0.38%	57.93% lower
Bromine	5 minerals with S and Br	0.38%	26.21% higher
Gallium	5 minerals with S and Ga	0.38%	183.98% higher
Ruthenium	4 minerals with S and Ru	0.30%	21.16% higher
Niobium	4 minerals with S and Nb	0.30%	90.12% lower
Lanthanum	3 minerals with S and La	0.23%	83.96% lower
Beryllium	3 minerals with S and Be	0.23%	89.75% lower
Caesium	3 minerals with S and Cs	0.23%	56.03% lower
Osmium	3 minerals with S and Os	0.23%	36.31% higher
Rhenium	2 minerals with S and Re	0.15%	354.37% higher
Gadolinium	1 mineral with S and Gd	0.08%	24.27% lower
Zirconium	1 mineral with S and Zr	0.08%	96.87% lower
Dysprosium	1 mineral with S and Dy	0.08%	51.46% higher
Lithium	1 mineral with S and Li	0.08%	96.28% lower
Thorium	1 mineral with S and Th	0.08%	89.18% lower

Periodic Table

2He

3Li

4Be

Show/hide current element

Default Categories CPK Electronegativity Atomic Radius Lowest Oxidation Highest Oxidation Crustal Abundance Goldschmidt Mineral Species Minerals with S Relative Frequency

Phosphorus << Sulfur >> Chlorine

Most widespread minerals containing Sulfur
This list of minerals containing Sulfur 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 Sulfur mineral species. It is more useful when comparing rare species rather than common species.

Most widespread minerals containing Sulfur

This list of minerals containing Sulfur 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 Sulfur mineral species. It is more useful when comparing rare species rather than common species.

Name	Formula	Crystal System	Mindat Localities
Pyrite	FeS₂	Isometric	46621
Chalcopyrite	CuFeS₂	Tetragonal	31928
Galena	PbS	Isometric	28753
Sphalerite	ZnS	Isometric	25279
Baryte	BaSO₄	Orthorhombic	13934
Pyrrhotite	Fe_1-xS	Monoclinic	10942
Arsenopyrite	FeAsS	Monoclinic	10676
Gypsum	CaSO₄ · 2H₂O	Monoclinic	8528
Molybdenite	MoS₂	Hexagonal	6851
Marcasite	FeS₂	Orthorhombic	6705

Photos
Pyrite Millstream Station, Ashburton Shire, Western Australia, Australia Chalcopyrite, etc. Tincroft Mine, Pool, Carn Brea, Cornwall, England, UK Galena, etc. Sweetwater Mine, Ellington, Reynolds County, Missouri, USA Sphalerite, etc. Lengenbach Quarry, Fäld, Binn, Goms, Valais, Switzerland Pyrite Millstream Station, Ashburton Shire, Western Australia, Australia Chalcopyrite, etc. Tincroft Mine, Pool, Carn Brea, Cornwall, England, UK Galena, etc. Sweetwater Mine, Ellington, Reynolds County, Missouri, USA Sphalerite, etc. Lengenbach Quarry, Fäld, Binn, Goms, Valais, Switzerland Pyrite Millstream Station, Ashburton Shire, Western Australia, Australia Chalcopyrite, etc. Tincroft Mine, Pool, Carn Brea, Cornwall, England, UK Galena, etc. Sweetwater Mine, Ellington, Reynolds County, Missouri, USA Sphalerite, etc. Lengenbach Quarry, Fäld, Binn, Goms, Valais, Switzerland

Photos

Pyrite

Millstream Station, Ashburton Shire, Western Australia, Australia

Chalcopyrite, etc.

Tincroft Mine, Pool, Carn Brea, Cornwall, England, UK

Galena, etc.

Sweetwater Mine, Ellington, Reynolds County, Missouri, USA

Sphalerite, etc.

Lengenbach Quarry, Fäld, Binn, Goms, Valais, Switzerland

Pyrite

Millstream Station, Ashburton Shire, Western Australia, Australia

Chalcopyrite, etc.

Tincroft Mine, Pool, Carn Brea, Cornwall, England, UK

Galena, etc.

Sweetwater Mine, Ellington, Reynolds County, Missouri, USA

Sphalerite, etc.

Lengenbach Quarry, Fäld, Binn, Goms, Valais, Switzerland

Pyrite

Millstream Station, Ashburton Shire, Western Australia, Australia

Chalcopyrite, etc.

Tincroft Mine, Pool, Carn Brea, Cornwall, England, UK

Galena, etc.

Sweetwater Mine, Ellington, Reynolds County, Missouri, USA

Sphalerite, etc.

Lengenbach Quarry, Fäld, Binn, Goms, Valais, Switzerland

Localities with greatest number of different Sulfur mineral species

1	Clara Mine, Oberwolfach, Ortenaukreis, Freiburg Region, Baden-Württemberg, Germany	134 S minerals
2	Lengenbach Quarry, Fäld, Binn, Goms, Valais, Switzerland	111 S minerals
3	Tsumeb Mine (Ongopolo Mine), Tsumeb, Oshikoto Region, Namibia	111 S minerals
4	Vorontsovskoe deposit (Vorontsovsk gold deposit; Vorontsovka deposit), Tur'insk, Turya river, Serovsky District, Sverdlovsk Oblast, Russia	109 S minerals
5	Bisbee, Cochise County, Arizona, USA	93 S minerals
6	Jáchymov, Karlovy Vary District, Karlovy Vary Region, Czech Republic	91 S minerals
7	Hilarion Mine, Kamariza Mines (Kamareza Mines), Agios Konstantinos (Kamariza), Lavrion Mining District, Lavreotiki, East Attica, Attica, Greece	84 S minerals
8	Blue Lizard Mine, Red Canyon Mining District, San Juan County, Utah, USA	84 S minerals

Important ores of Sulfur
Most sulphur is produced by desulfurization of petroleum products and cleaning of sulfur from smelting smokestack, but some sulfur is produced from roasting pyrite FeS₂ and native sulphur is still mined in some parts of the world.

Name	Formula	Crystal System
Sulphur	S₈	Orthorhombic
Pyrite	FeS₂	Isometric

Photos
Sulphur, etc. Cozzo Disi Mine, Casteltermini, Agrigento Province, Sicily, Italy Pyrite Ampliación a Victoria Mine, Navajún, La Rioja, Spain Sulphur, etc. Cianciana sulphur mines, Cianciana, Agrigento Province, Sicily, Italy Pyrite Rosebery Mine, Rosebery, Rosebery district, West Coast municipality, Tasmania, Australia Sulphur, etc. Cozzo Disi Mine, Casteltermini, Agrigento Province, Sicily, Italy Pyrite Ampliación a Victoria Mine, Navajún, La Rioja, Spain Sulphur, etc. Cianciana sulphur mines, Cianciana, Agrigento Province, Sicily, Italy Pyrite Rosebery Mine, Rosebery, Rosebery district, West Coast municipality, Tasmania, Australia Sulphur, etc. Cozzo Disi Mine, Casteltermini, Agrigento Province, Sicily, Italy Pyrite Ampliación a Victoria Mine, Navajún, La Rioja, Spain Sulphur, etc. Cianciana sulphur mines, Cianciana, Agrigento Province, Sicily, Italy Pyrite Rosebery Mine, Rosebery, Rosebery district, West Coast municipality, Tasmania, Australia

Photos

Sulphur, etc.

Cozzo Disi Mine, Casteltermini, Agrigento Province, Sicily, Italy

Pyrite

Ampliación a Victoria Mine, Navajún, La Rioja, Spain

Sulphur, etc.

Cianciana sulphur mines, Cianciana, Agrigento Province, Sicily, Italy

Pyrite

Rosebery Mine, Rosebery, Rosebery district, West Coast municipality, Tasmania, Australia

Sulphur, etc.

Cozzo Disi Mine, Casteltermini, Agrigento Province, Sicily, Italy

Pyrite

Ampliación a Victoria Mine, Navajún, La Rioja, Spain

Sulphur, etc.

Cianciana sulphur mines, Cianciana, Agrigento Province, Sicily, Italy

Pyrite

Rosebery Mine, Rosebery, Rosebery district, West Coast municipality, Tasmania, Australia

Sulphur, etc.

Cozzo Disi Mine, Casteltermini, Agrigento Province, Sicily, Italy

Pyrite

Ampliación a Victoria Mine, Navajún, La Rioja, Spain

Sulphur, etc.

Cianciana sulphur mines, Cianciana, Agrigento Province, Sicily, Italy

Pyrite

Rosebery Mine, Rosebery, Rosebery district, West Coast municipality, Tasmania, Australia

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:

David R. Lide (ed.), CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics, 85th Edition. CRC Press. Boca Raton, Florida (2005).
Kaye and Laby Tables of Physical & Chemical Constants (2005). Section 3.1.3, Abundances of the elements
A. Earnshaw, N. Greenwood, Chemistry of the Elements, 2nd edition, Butterworth-Heinemann, (1997)
Thomas J. Ahrens (ed.), Global Earth Physics : A Handbook of Physical Constants, American Geophysical Union (1995)
L.B. Railsback, An Earth Scientist's Periodic Table of the Elements and Their Ions : Geology 31:9 p737-740 (2003)
Emsley, J. Nature's Building Blocks: An A-Z Guide to the Elements. New York: Oxford University Press (2001)

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