<P> At 0.099 % , phosphorus is the most abundant pnictogen in the Earth 's crust but it is not found free in nature ; it is widely distributed in many minerals , mainly phosphates . Inorganic phosphate rock , which is partially made of apatite ( a group of minerals being , generally , pentacalcium triorthophosphate fluoride ( hydroxide ) ) , is today the chief commercial source of this element . According to the US Geological Survey ( USGS ) , about 50 percent of the global phosphorus reserves are in the Arab nations . Large deposits of apatite are located in China , Russia , Morocco , Florida , Idaho , Tennessee , Utah , and elsewhere . Albright and Wilson in the UK and their Niagara Falls plant , for instance , were using phosphate rock in the 1890s and 1900s from Tennessee , Florida , and the Îles du Connétable ( guano island sources of phosphate ) ; by 1950 they were using phosphate rock mainly from Tennessee and North Africa . </P>
<P> At 0.099 % , phosphorus is the most abundant pnictogen in the Earth 's crust but it is not found free in nature ; it is widely distributed in many minerals , mainly phosphates . Inorganic phosphate rock , which is partially made of apatite ( a group of minerals being , generally , pentacalcium triorthophosphate fluoride ( hydroxide ) ) , is today the chief commercial source of this element . According to the US Geological Survey ( USGS ) , about 50 percent of the global phosphorus reserves are in the Arab nations . Large deposits of apatite are located in China , Russia , Morocco , Florida , Idaho , Tennessee , Utah , and elsewhere . Albright and Wilson in the UK and their Niagara Falls plant , for instance , were using phosphate rock in the 1890s and 1900s from Tennessee , Florida , and the Îles du Connétable ( guano island sources of phosphate ) ; by 1950 they were using phosphate rock mainly from Tennessee and North Africa . </P>
a pale green mineral the major source of phosphorus
a pale green mineral the major source of phosphorus
apatite ( a group of minerals being , generally , pentacalcium triorthophosphate fluoride ( hydroxide ) )
apatite ( a group of minerals being , generally , pentacalcium triorthophosphate fluoride ( hydroxide ) )