808 • The Netherlands Global Resources The Netherlands: Resources at a Glance Official name: Kingdom of the Netherlands Government: Constitutional monarchy Capital city: Amsterdam Area: 16,041 mi 2 ; 41,543 km 2 Population (2009 est.): 16,715,999 Languages: Dutch and Frisian Monetary unit: euro (EUR) Economic summary: GDP composition by sector (2008 est.): agriculture, 1.7%; industry, 25.5%; services, 72.9% Natural resources: natural gas, petroleum, peat, limestone, salt, sand and gravel, arable land Land use (2005): arable land, 21.96%; permanent crops, 0.77%; other, 77.27% Industries: agroindustries, metal and engineering products, electrical machinery and equipment, chemicals, petroleum, construction, microelectronics, fishing Agricultural products: grains, potatoes, sugar beets, fruits, vegetables, flowers, livestock Exports (2008 est.): $533.2 billion Commodities exported: machinery and equipment, chemicals, fuels, foodstuffs Imports (2008 est.): $475.9 billion Commodities imported: machinery and transport equipment, chemicals, fuels, foodstuffs, clothing Labor force (2008 est.): 7.715 million Labor force by occupation (2005 est.): agriculture, 2%; industry, 18%; services, 80% Energy resources: Electricity production (2007): 105.2 billion kWh Electricity consumption (2007): 122.8 billion kWh Electricity exports (2007): 5.48 billion kWh Electricity imports (2007): 23.09 billion kWh Natural gas production (2007 est.): 76.33 billion m 3 Natural gas consumption (2007 est.): 46.42 billion m 3 Natural gas exports (2007 est.): 55.66 billion m 3 Natural gas imports (2007 est.): 25.73 billion m 3 Natural gas proved reserves ( Jan. 2008 est.): 1.416 trillion m 3 Oil production (2007 est.): 88,950 bbl/day Oil imports (2005): 2.648 million bbl/day Oil proved reserves ( Jan. 2008 est.): 100 million bbl Source: Data from The World Factbook 2009. Washington, D.C.: Central Intelligence Agency, 2009. Notes: Data are the most recent tracked by the CIA. Values are given in U.S. dollars. Abbreviations: bbl/day = barrels per day; GDP = gross domestic product; km 2 = square kilometers; kWh = kilowatt-hours; m 3 = cubic meters; mi 2 = square miles. Amsterdam Germany Netherlands Belgium France United Kingdom North Sea the effects on the country’s economy needed to be considered before completely opening the market. The Netherlands was the second highest producer of natural gas in the European Union and seventh in the worldin 2007. Itwas alsofifth in theworld in natu- ral gas exports. The country’sproven resources of nat- ural gas are twenty-second overall (1,416,000 million cubic meters), which is 0.8 percent of the world total. The United States ranks second worldwide in produc- tion and first in import and consumption of natural gas. Russia is the largest producer and contains the largest proven resources of natural gas in the world. At the 2009 rate of consumption, use of natural gas in the Netherlands will surpass production by 2020 or 2025. Some gas will remain in the fields, but less pres- sure will make extraction of the gas more difficult. Peat Smallingerland, a region in northern Netherlands, and its capital city, Drachten, have long histories with the peat industry. The name Drachten is believed to be derived from darch, the Old Frisian word for peaty soil. In 1641, a businessman hired eight hundred workers to dig peat, creating the Drachtstervaart Ca- nal. The canal spurred several other industries in the area, including shipbuilding. At that time, peat was a main source of fuel, and the demand was more than the Friesland area could produce. Local farmers made a deal with businessmen from Holland province to sell peat. Hundreds of people began spending their days cutting peat, for little profit. Slowly, the community began to grow with the construction of homes, hos- tels, businesses, and other accommodations needed to handle the peat workers and industry. The Netherlands is third globally in peat exporta- tion, accounting for more than $84 million in 2007. It contains 75 percent of all the peat settlements in northwestern Europe. Peat production in the Nether- lands started to decline near the beginning of the twenty-first century. This was partly due to the fact that peat, like coal, is a limited resource. The Nether- lands government is working to better preserve the peatlands. In 1974, the Dutch government began its efforts to protect, conserve, and restore peatlands. The five-step plan was to span a fifty-year time period. After cataloging all of the remaining peatlands in the country, the government purchased them. Step three mandated stopping the drainage of the land and re - storing its hydrology. Extensive plans to manage the reserves were developed, followed by a campaign to educate the public about the peatlands and their importance. Through this program, the Dutch gov- ernment purchased 8,000 hectares of peatland. The government alsoopened the Veenpark, a museum de- signed to educate the public about the history of peat workers. The museum includes a farmhouse, church, bakery, and other buildings that visitors can explore. Another problem facing the country is subsidence. In order to have more land for farming, many peat grasslands have been drained, causing the fields to sink 1 to 2 meters farther below sea level than before. The peat becomes oxidized when in contact with the air, drying, crumbling, and decaying, which causes the topsoil to sink. Scientists estimate that under cur- rent conditions, the central “green heart” region of the Netherlands will continue to sink between 2 and 25 millimeters annually. In order to preserve the peat and elevation above sea level, the amount of ground- water cannot be decreased. Flowers The Netherlands is the third largest exporter in the world of agricultural products, following the United States and France. Agricultural exports account for $55 billion of the Netherlands’ income each year. It exports two-thirds of the fresh-cut plants, flowers, and bulbs sold throughout the world. Every year, the Neth- erlands produces nine billion flower bulbs. Three bil- lion of those are tulip bulbs, of which approximately two billion are exported. Over one-half of the coun- try’s flower-bulb farms, 9,481 hectares, are planted with tulips. Other popular bulbs include lilies, gladi- oli, narcissi, and hyacinths. The tulip arrived in Holland in 1593 with the ar- rival of botanist Charles de L’Écluse (also known as Carolus Clusius). He had taken a position at the Uni- versity of Leiden as its head botanist for the botanical garden. The tulips L’Écluse brought with him were gifts from an ambassador from Constantinople whom he had met while living in Vienna. He planted his tu- lip collection behind a building at the university. The flowers were popular, but L’Écluse refused to give away or sell any of the bulbs. It is believed that the Dutch tulip industry started when thieves stole some of L’Écluse’s flowers from his garden. Through the seventeenth century tulips spread in the area between the North Sea and Amsterdam. This region is now known as the bollenstreek, or bulb-growing district. The town of Lisse is at the center of this district and hosts a world-famous flower exhibition. Global Resources The Netherlands • 809 Tulips were not always readily available as they are today. The years between 1634 and 1637 are known as “the foolish tulip trade,” “the wild tulip speculation,” and “Tulipomania.” In 1634, tulip bulbs were sold by weight instead of per bulb. Bulbs were weighed in grain (4 to 8 centigrams), which is also used by gold- smiths. In 1636, tulips were seen as a symbol of status and wealth. Bulbs were bought at high costs, and sold at even higher prices. At the peak, some tulips sold for the same amount as a large home along the canals in Amsterdam. Tulips also became the subject of many paintings by famous artists. In 1637, the Dutch gov- ernment passed a law against such excessive tulip prices. That year, the tulip market crashed, an event that has been compared to the American stock mar- ket crash of 1929. A second bulb district developed in the North Hol- land province during World War I. In 1925, the Dutch created the International Flower Bulb Center to assist gardeners around the world with growing bulb flow- ers. At the end of World War II a large expansion of flower bulb cultivation occurred. Limestone Limestone quarries are found throughout the world. Several of the largest are found in the Netherlands and Belgium, spanning more than 100 kilometers. Mount Saint Peter, near St. Pietersberg in the Nether- lands, is covered with massive limestone quarries. The Netherlands also has several underground limestone caves. The city of Valkenburg is famous for its caves, which have been used for centuries. The walls contain ancient charcoal drawings and otherart- work. The caverns were used during World War II as a shelter for refugees. Public tours are given of a por- tion of the more than 70 kilometers of caves and pas- sageways beneath Valkenburg. In the Limburg region of Holland and Belgium, there are more than three hundred room and pillar limestone mines, some as large as 85 hectares. In the Maastricht region, exten- 810 • The Netherlands Global Resources A windmill in Zaanse Schans. Wind power has been utilized in the Netherlands for centuries. (©Alexshalamov/Dreamstime.com) sive mining of limestone has resulted in both local and large-scale collapses. These collapses have caused faulting, surface subsidence, and the formation of sinkholes. The quarry near the village of Winterswijk is a source of Mesozoic limestone from the Muschelkalk period. Students, scientists, and the general public search the quarry for fossils onweekends andover the summer. They search for fossils of ancient reptiles that date back 240 million years. Fossils of imprints of claws of the Rhynchosauroides peabodyi are common in the quarry. No bone fossils of the coastal reptile have been found, only claw prints and skin. These trace fos- sils can be helpful to scientists, telling them the ani- mal’s weight and speed. In 2006, the Dutch Geologic Society found a trace sequence in the Winterswijk quarry that was more than 10 meters long. Scientists search for trace fossils by splitting the limestone into very thin sheets, about 0.5 centimeter in thickness. Fossilized fish scales and bones, seashells, and reptile bones have also been found in the quarry. Salt The collection of peat in the eighth and ninth centu- ries caused the land to sink and fill with salt water. By the eleventh century, this peat was heavily concen- trated with salt, so it was used for salt making instead of fuel. It was only possible to collect this peat during low tide. The peat was dried and then burned. The ashes were taken to salt sheds, where they were placed in large drums full of salt water, which was used to increase the amount of salt collected. The water was then evaporated away. During medieval times, eel - grass was also used in salt making in the northwestern Global Resources The Netherlands • 811 The Erasmus Bridge links the southern and northern parts of Rotterdam, one of the busiest ports in the world. (©Bob Bouwman/ Dreamstime.com) regions of Holland. Salt was an important preserva - tive for fish, bacon, other meats, and butter at the time. In some ways, the Netherlands owes its indepen- dence to salt. During its revolution against Spain, it blockaded the Iberian saltworks,effectively bankrupt- ing Spain. The Netherlands began mining and pro- ducing salt in 1918. Halite, or rock salt, deposits exist throughout the world, left behind after the evapora- tion of ancient lakes. Halite can be mined the same way as other rocks, or it can be dissolved with water underground. The saltwater solution is then brought to the surface, where the salt can be removed. This method is more cost-effective. The salt is then puri- fied, removing the magnesium, calcium, and any other unwanted elements. Most of the world’s salt is pro- duced for food storage or consumption; more than 8 percent is used in other industries. Salt is used in the production of pulp and paper, the dyeing of fab- rics, and soapmaking. The Netherlands ranks among the top dozen nations in overall salt production, accru- ing more than $780 million from exporting salt in 2007. China and the United States top the list, ac- counting for more than one-third of the world’s pro- duction in 2008. Arable Land The term “arable land” is defined as land that can be used to grow crops. Land is deemed nonarable if it is too rocky, too cold or hot, too dry, too mountainous, too rainy or snowy, or too polluted. An average of more than 200,000 square kilometers of arable land is lost each year. It is possible however, to turn non- arable land (sometimes referred to as wasteland) into arable land. The process depends on why the land is nonarable. Some of the processes are planting trees indeserts to create shade, digging irrigation ditches, using fertilizers, creating hills to shelter areas from high winds, and constructing greenhouses for areas with harsh climates or little sunlight. These processes are often huge undertakings that cost large amounts of money. In 2005, the Netherlands was ranked forty-seventh in the world by percentage of arable land used for ag- riculture (21.96 percent). Bangladesh was first with more than 55 percent. Much of the Netherlands has been reclaimed from the North Sea by draining water and building dikes and levees. Less than 5 percent of Dutch citizens work in agricultural jobs. The Dutch work hard to maintain thequality of their arablefarm - land. Other Resources The Netherlands ranks fifty-second in oil production in the world. In 2007, it produced 88,950 barrels of oil per day. The Shell gasoline company, officially the Royal Dutch Shell plc, was created in1907 afterDutch and British gas companies merged. Jean Baptiste Au- gust Kessler and Henri W. A. Deterding founded the Royal Dutch Petroleum Company in 1890. The Netherlands produces an annual average of 5,000 metric tons of industrial sand and gravel. In 2007, the country was fourteenth worldwide in ex- ports of stone, sand, and gravel, amounting to almost $100 million. The Netherlands also produces andexports alarge number of vegetables. It exports one-quarter of the world’s tomatoes and one-third of all peppers and cu- cumbers. During the 1990’s, Dutch tomato farmers were struggling to sell their produce. German con- sumers stopped buying the tomatoes, claiming that they lacked flavor and tasted industrially mass-pro- duced. European shoppers had begun choosing to- matoes imported from the Mediterranean instead, along with French cheese, cucumbers from Greece, and Danish bacon, instead of those produced in the Netherlands. One drawback to Holland tomatoes is that they are grown in large greenhouses, instead of outdoors. Jennifer L. Campbell Further Reading Bedford, Neal. The Netherlands. 3d ed. Oakland, Calif.: Lonely Planet, 2007. Blom, J. C. H., and Emiel Lamberts. History of the Low Countries. New ed. New York: Berghahn Books, 2006. Cech, Thomas V. Principles of Water Resources: History, Development, Management, and Policy. 2d ed. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 2005. Ciriacono, Salvatore. Building on Water: Venice, Hol- land, and the Construction of the European Landscape in Modern Times. New York: Berghahn Books, 2006. Dash, Mike. Tulipomania: The Story of the World’s Most Coveted Flower and the Extraordinary Passions It Aroused. London: Phoenix, 2003. De Vries, Jan, and A. M. van der Woude. The First Mod- ern Economy: Success, Failure, and Perseverance of the Dutch Economy, 1500-1815. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 1997. Grattan, Thomas Colley. Holland: The History of the Netherlands. New York: Cosimo Classics, 2007. 812 • The Netherlands Global Resources Wesseler, Justus, Hans-Peter Weikard, and Robert Weaver, eds. Risk and Uncertainty in Environmental and Natural Resource Economics. Northampton, Mass.: Edward Elgar, 2004. Whited, Tamara. Northern Europe: An Environmental History. Santa Barbara, Calif.: ABC-CLIO, 2005. See also: Agricultural products; Agriculture indus- try; Limestone; Oil and natural gas distribution; Peat; Salt. Nickel Category: Mineral and other nonliving resources Where Found Sudbury, Ontario, Canada, has the largest exploited nickel ore deposit in the world. Other major ore de- posits include those in Norway, NewCaledonia, Cuba, northwestern Siberia, and the Kola Peninsula. Primary Uses Nickel is widely used in stainless steel and other alloys as well as in plating, catalytic processes, and batteries. Stainless steel is commonly about 8 percent nickel. Nickel alloys are also used in marine hardware, mag- nets, coinage, and tableware. In 2008, the apparent consumption of primary nickel in the United States was about 127,000 metric tons, while world produc- tion was about 1.6 million metric tons. Technical Definition Nickel (symbol Ni) is a shiny metal with a density of 8.9 grams per cubic centimeter (slightly greater than that of iron). Nickel melts at 1,455° Celsius and boils at 2,920° Celsius. Along with iron and cobalt, it constitutes the iron group triad in the periodic ta- ble—traditionally Group VIII, now Group 10. Nickel (atomic number 28) has five stable isotopes and an atomic weight of 58.71. It is malleable and ductile, and it resists corrosion in air. Description, Distribution, and Forms Nickel occurs in detectable amounts in the Earth’s crust, the atmosphere, and the seas. Earth’s core is thought to contain nickel and iron, and some meteor - ites do. The average crustal concentration is about 100 micrograms per gram, which ranks twenty-second among the elements. Rural air may contain as much as 10 nanograms per cubic meter, and urban air ten times as much. Average nickel content in seawater is 0.1-0.6 microgram per liter, and there are about 4 mi- crograms per liter in groundwater. Elemental nickel occurs in meteorites, marine nodules, and the metallic core of the Earth. Ores of nickel include oxides, sulfides, arsenides, and sili- cates, which often also contain copper. The largest commercially exploited nickel ore deposit is in Sud- bury, Ontario, Canada. The ore there is a complex sul- fide called pentlandite, which contains in addition to nickel a number of other metals, including iron and platinum group elements. Approximately 30 percent of the world’s known reserves of nickel are in Sud- bury. Major ore deposits also occur in the western Si- berian arctic and the Kola Peninsulain Russia. Silicate ores such as garnierite (a nickel-magnesium silicate) are mined in Australia, Cuba, Indonesia, and New Caledonia. The major producers of nickel are Russia, Canada, Indonesia, Australia, and New Caldonia. In 1998, the United States stopped producing primary nickel. From 1999 to 2007, the United States im- ported an average of 150,000 metric tons a year. A large body of ore has been discovered in Labrador, making it likely that Canada will continue to be a ma- jor producer for many years. Elemental nickel moves through the environment via water-soluble compounds such as nickel chloride or sulfate, through particulate matter, and possibly through the formation of volatile tetracarbonyl nickel. In the biosphere, nickel is found to a greater extent in plants than in animals. Many plants are harmed by ab- sorbing nickel from the soil, but some 150 species have been found to hyperaccumulate, resulting in nickel contents up to 25percent of dry weight.Mosses and sponges are among the organisms that accumu- late nickel. Four types of nickel-containing enzymes have been identified: urease, hydrogenase, methyl coenzyme M methylreductase (MCR), and carbon monoxide de- hydrogenase (also called acetyl coenzyme A synthase). Urease, which catalyzes the breakdown of urea into ammonia, is found in plants, bacteria, algae, lichens, fungi, and certain invertebrates. Urease from the jack bean (Canavalia ensiformis) was the first enzyme to be obtained in crystalline form (by James Batcheller Sumner in 1926) but was not known to contain nickel until 1975. The other nickel enzymes are found mainly in bacteria. For example, MCR occurs in methano - Global Resources Nickel • 813 genic bacteria that flourish in the bodies of termites. These insects release enormous amounts of meth- ane (a greenhouse gas) as a result of the bacteria. Bacterial carbon monoxide dehydrogenase catalyzes the conversion of carbon monoxide to carbon diox - ide and is responsible for removing about 100 metric tons per year of carbon monoxide from the atmo- sphere. There is evidence from animal studies that nickel may be an essential trace element in rats and pigs, 814 • Nickel Global Resources Data from the U.S. Geological Survey, . U.S. Government Printing Office, 2009.Source: Mineral Commodity Summaries, 2009 20,100 211,000 92,600 88,400 276,000 38,000 20,000 6,530 28,600 Metric Tons of Nickel Content 5,000,0004,000,0003,000,0002,000,0001,000,000 Zimbabwe Russia Philippines New Caledonia Indonesia Greece South Africa Venezuela Other countries 180,000 36,000 4,500,000 250,000 85,000 74,900 77,000 47,000 Dominican Republic China Canada Brazil Botswana Australia Colombia Cuba Nickel: World Mine Production, 2008 which fail to show normal weight gain if nickel is rigor - ously excluded from the diet. Similarly, many plants suffer a distortion of their nitrogen metabolism if de- prived of nickel. On the other hand, toxic and even carcinogenic effects can result from particular types and levels of nickel exposure. In rats the LD50 (lethal dose for 50 percent of the test subjects) for orally administered nickel (II) acetate is 350 milligrams per kilogram. The average 70-kilogram human being carries a burden of 0.5 milligram of nickel, which is concen- trated in the hair and nails. Dietary intake is 100-200 micrograms per day, with elimination largely through the urine and perspiration. Oils and fats, meat, sea- food, and cereals all contain traces of nickel. Individ- uals who suffer myocardial infarction, stroke, or ex- tensive thermal burns of the skin exhibit elevated levels of nickel in the blood. Skin contact with nickel or nickel compounds can produce dermatitis; the im- mune system becomes involved, and once sensitized, a person reacts to very small exposures. There is also a long and melancholy history of lung lesions and can- cer in miners who breathed dust containing nickel sulfide. Nickel-containing dust and smoke badly pol- luted the area around Sudbury, at one time, causing widespread blighting of all types of vegetation. History The European history of nickel be- gan with Saxon miners who encoun- tered an ore of nickel they thought contained copper and derisively named kupfernickel, or “devil’s cop- per.” In 1751, Axel Fredrik Cron- stedt investigated a sample of ore from a mine in Hälsingland, Sweden and concluded that it contained a new element, which he obtained in impure form. In 1754, he named the element. Torbern Olaf Bergman ob- tained a sample of the pure metal in 1775. The first nickel smelter began operating in Sweden in 1838 and was followed by others in Norway and elsewhere in Europe. One early mo- tivation for nickel production was the desire to produce nickel-silver al - loy from local resources instead of importing it from China. The nickel reserves in New Caledonia were noted by Jules Gar - nier, who helped establish a French nickel indus- try and later served as a consultant in Ontario, Can- ada, after the Sudbury nickel deposits started to be exploited in 1888. The founder of the nickel indus- try in the United States was Joseph Wharton, whose smelter in Camden, New Jersey, at one time in the nineteenth century produced one-sixth of theworld’s nickel. In Britain the nickel carbonyl process was devel- oped in the late nineteenth century by Ludwig Mond and soon became commercially important. Obtaining Nickel Only nickel—not copperor the other metals in nickel ores—reacts with carbon monoxide, yielding volatile tetracarbonyl nickel. This substance, after separation by distillation, yields pure nickelupon heating to180° Celsius. Uses of Nickel Nickel finds its most important uses in stainless steel and other alloys, in plating, and in catalysts. Valued for its resistance to rusting, stainless steel exists in a multitude of types and compositions, but it is most Global Resources Nickel • 815 Source: Mineral Commodity Summaries, 2009Data from the U.S. Geological Survey, . U.S. Government Printing Office, 2009. Transportation 30% Chemicals 15% Electical equipment 10% Construction 9% Fabricated metal products 8% Appliances 8% Petroleum industry 7% Machinery 6% Other 7% U.S. End Uses of Nickel typically 18 percent chromium, 8 percent nickel, and the rest iron. Nickel-copper alloys such as Monel (68 percent nickel) possess corrosion resistance toward chlorine compounds and salt and are used in marine hardware. Nichrome (60 percent nickel, 40 percent chromium) is used for heating elements in resistance heaters, while nickel silver (composed of nickel, cop- per, and zinc) is used for coinage, jewelry, and table- ware. Powerful permanent magnets make use of a steel alloy called alnico (aluminum, nickel, cobalt). Nickel plating is important for protecting steel from corrosion and for steel’s appearance. Rechargeable batteries for portable equipment such as radios, cord- less telephones, and flashlights are often nickel cad- mium cells, while nickel hydride cells have been used in computers and electric vehicles. Thomas Edison developed a battery using hydrated nickel oxide as an electrode coating, and in the late twentieth century, a nickel chloride-sodium battery was developed. One growing use is in nickel-metal hydride (NiMH) bat- teries for hybrid vehicles, despite competition from lithium-ion batteries. Nickel-based batteries have also experienced higher demand with the growth of the wind-power industry. Nickel in finely divided form accelerates the reac- tions of hydrogen gas with various substrates. Thus nickel catalysts are used in the hydrogenation of vege- table oils and in “methanation”—the conversion of carbon monoxide to hydrocarbons. Nickel carbonyl derivatives and cyclooctadiene-nickel complexes are homogeneous catalysts for oligomerization of dienes and acetylenes. Small amounts of nickel oxide are used to impart a green color to glass. Because nickel alloys are vital in aircraft engines and armor plate, nickel was considered a strategic resource and was stockpiled by the U.S. government. In 1999, however, the U.S. government sold off the nickel in the National Defense Stockpile. As of 2009, the U.S. Department of Energy continued to hold several thousand tons of nickel ingot and scrap, some of which was contaminated with low levels of radioac- tivity; several more thousand tons of nickel were ex- pected to be recovered from decomissioned defense sites. World production of nickel in 2008 continued at a fairly high level, despite a global economic downturn, and was used mainly in steel production, construc- tion, food processing, and transportation. China was the world’s largest consumer of the metal. John R. Phillips Further Reading Adriano, Domy C. “Nickel.” In Trace Elements in Terres- trial Environments: Biogeochemistry, Bioavailability, and Risks of Metals. 2d ed. New York: Springer, 2001. Greenwood, N. N., and A. Earnshaw. “Nickel, Palla- dium, and Platinum.” In Chemistry ofthe Elements.2d ed. Boston: Butterworth-Heinemann, 1997. Hausinger, Robert P. Biochemistry of Nickel. New York: Plenum Press, 1993. Howard-White, F. B. Nickel: An Historical Review.To- ronto: Longmans Canada, 1963. Lippard, Stephen J., and Jeremy M. Berg. Principles of Bioinorganic Chemistry. Mill Valley, Calif.: University Science Books, 1994. Sigel, Astrid, Helmut Sigel, and Roland K. O. Sigel, eds. Nickel and Its Surprising Impact in Nature. Hoboken, N.J.: Wiley, 2007. Silva, J. J. R. Fraústo da, and R. J. P. Williams. “Nickel and Cobalt: Remnants of Life?” In The Biological Chemistry of the Elements: The Inorganic Chemistry of Life. 2d ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 2001. Web Sites Natural Resources Canada Canadian Minerals Yearbook, Mineral and Metal Commodity Reviews http://www.nrcan-rncan.gc.ca/mms-smm/busi- indu/cmy-amc/com-eng.htm U.S. Geological Survey Nickel: Statistics and Information http://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/ commodity/nickel See also: Alloys; Canada; Cobalt; Indonesia; Iron; Magnetic materials; Mining safety and health issues; Russia; Steel; Strategic resources. Niobium Category: Mineral and other nonliving resources Where Found Niobium is most oftenfound as niobiumpentoxide in the mineral niobite (also called columbite or tanta - lite), which in the United States is found in Colorado, Connecticut, Maine, North Carolina, South Dakota, 816 • Niobium Global Resources and Virginia. This mineral is also found in Australia, Brazil, Canada, Madagascar, South Africa, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Nigeria, Norway, and Russia. Primary Uses Niobium is used to toughen and harden steel. It is also used to make low- and high- temperature superconductors. In its Min- eral Commodity Summaries (January, 2009), the U.S. Geological Survey reported that approximately 78 percent of U.S. end use of niobium is in manufacturing of steels, with the remaining 22 percent devoted to production of superalloys. Technical Definition Niobium (symbol Nb), or columbium (symbol Cb), has an atomic number of 41, an atomic weight of 92.9064, and sixteen isotopes. It is a hard, lustrous metal, gray or silver-white in color, malleable (capable of being bent or flattened), and ductile (ca- pable of being stretched). It has a melting point of 2,468° Celsius, a boiling point of 4,742° Celsius, and a specific gravity of 8.4. Description, Distribution, and Forms Niobium is named for Niobe, the mythical daughter of the Greek god Tantalus. The designation niobium was officially adopted by the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry in 1949. However, an al- ternative name, columbium, is still used by many met- allurgists in the United States and, to a lesser degree, England. History Niobium was discovered by the English chemist Charles Hatchett in 1801, and it was first prepared in 1864 when Christian Wilhelm Blomstrand of Sweden isolated it from niobium chloride by reduction in a stream of hydrogen. Niobium is easily welded and re- sists tarnish. It exhibits a variable valency of +2, +3, +5, and possibly +4. At high temperatures, it reacts with oxygen, carbon, nitrogen, sulfur, chlorine, fluorine, bromine, iodine, and other nonmetals. Obtaining Niobium Niobite forms in pegmatite (exceptionally coarse- grained igneous rocks typically made of granite), of - ten with tin and tungsten minerals. Ores of niobium are also sometimesfound in placer deposits. Niobium is rarely found without a similar element called tanta- lum. Eighty-five percent of allniobium reserves are lo- cated in Brazil. The element niobium is extracted from niobite by reducing the complex alkali fluoride with sodium, or the oxide with calcium, aluminum, or hydrogen. Uses of Niobium Because niobium has excellent gas-absorbing qualities and a high melting point, it is used in the manufacture of vacuum tubes. Niobium is used as an alloying agent in carbon and alloy steels. In the preparation of stain- less steel, it is used to prevent corrosion at high tem- peratures and to permit fabrication without added heat treatment. Niobium adds strength, toughness, and ductility to chrome steel. Niobium alloys are used in jet and rocket engines. In the form of a carbide, ni- obium is used in making cutting tools. Combined with selenium and hydrogen, it forms a low-temperature superconductor (a material that can conduct electric- ity without any resistance), which is used in the con- struction of superconducting magnets. Applications include monorail trains, where the tracks are made of superconductor material and the trains are magne- tized and glide along without any resistance. It is also combined with other elements to form high-tempera- ture superconductors. Since niobium allowsneutrons to pass through it without interference, it is used in nuclear reactors, particularly in the walls of experi - mental fusion reactors. Alvin K. Benson Global Resources Niobium • 817 A columbite sample from South Dakota. Columbite is another name for niobite, from which niobium is derived. (USGS) . government sold off the nickel in the National Defense Stockpile. As of 2009, the U.S. Department of Energy continued to hold several thousand tons of nickel ingot and scrap, some of which was contaminated. search for fossils of ancient reptiles that date back 240 million years. Fossils of imprints of claws of the Rhynchosauroides peabodyi are common in the quarry. No bone fossils of the coastal reptile. in methano - Global Resources Nickel • 813 genic bacteria that flourish in the bodies of termites. These insects release enormous amounts of meth- ane (a greenhouse gas) as a result of the bacteria. Bacterial