The smell of the sediment tells a great deal about the underlying chemistry. Thick black anoxic sediments can be accompanied by a putrid smell which is unique to reduced sulfur. Maybe this is why ...

Why Nature Chemistry spells sulfur with an 'f ... substitution can be found if we move just to the left in the periodic table and consider element 15, phosphorus, which means 'light-carrier ...

However, sulfur's position lower in the periodic table endows its compounds with distinct properties that are advantageous to biological systems. For example, thiols are superior nucleophiles ...