Cobalt abundance but natural compounds of cobalt are numerous and all amounts of cobalt compounds are found in most rocks, soil, plants, and animals. In nature, cobalt is frequently associated with nickel. Both are characteristic components of meteoric iron, though cobalt is much less abundant in iron meteorites than nickel. As with nickel, cobalt in meteoric iron alloys may have been well enough protected from oxygen and moisture to remain as the free (but alloyed) metal, though neither element is seen in that form in the ancient terrestrial crust. Cobalt in compound form occurs in copper and nickel minerals. It is
Cobalt (Co). The primary decay mode for isotopes with atomic mass unit values less than that of the most abundant stable isotope, Co, is electron capture and the primary mode of decay in isotopes with atomic mass greater than 59 atomic mass units is beta decay. The primary decay products below Co are element 26 (iron) isotopes; above that the decay products are element 28 (nickel) isotopes. Cobalt compounds have been used for centuries to impart a rich blue color to glass, glazes, and ceramics. Cobalt has been detected in Egyptian sculpture, Persian jewelry from the third millennium BC, in the