Pitting corrosion, or pitting, is a form of extremely localized corrosion that l eads to the creation of small holes in the metal.

The driving power for pitting corrosion is the depassivation of a small area, which becomes anodic while an un known but potentially vast area becomes cathodic, leading to very localized galv anic corrosion. The corrosion penetrates the mass of the metal, with limited dif fusion of ions. The mechanism of pitting corrosion is probably the same as crevi ce corrosion. The more conventional explanation is that the acidity inside the pit is maintain ed by the spatial separation of the cathodic and anodic half-reactions, which cr eates a potential gradient and electromigration of aggressive anions into the pi t.[1] This kind of corrosion is extremely insidious, as it causes little loss of mater ial with small effect on its surface, while it damages the deep structures of th e metal. The pits on the surface are often obscured by corrosion products. Pitting can be initiated by a small surface defect, being a scratch or a local c hange in composition, or a damage to protective coating. Polished surfaces displ ay higher resistance to pitting. Alloys most susceptible to pitting corrosion are usually the ones where corrosio n resistance is caused by a passivation layer: stainless steels, nickel alloys, aluminum alloys. Metals that are susceptible to uniform corrosion in turn do not tend to suffer from pitting. Thus, a regular carbon steel will corrode uniforml y in sea water, while stainless steel will pit. Additions of about 2% of molybde num increases pitting resistance of stainless steels. The presence of chlorides, e.g. in sea water, significantly aggravates the condi tions for formation and growth of the pits through an autocatalytic process. The pits become loaded with positive metal ions through anodic dissociation. The Cl - ions become concentrated in the pits for charge neutrality and encourage the r eaction of positive metal ions with water to form a hydroxide corrosion product and H+ ions. Now, the pits are weakly acidic, which accelerates the process. Besides chlorides, other anions implicated in pitting include thiosulfates (S2O3 2-), fluorides and iodides. Stagnant water conditions favour pitting. Thiosulfat es are particularly aggressive species and are formed by partial oxidation of py rite, or partial reduction of sulfate. Thiosulfates are a concern for corrosion in many industries: sulfide ores processing, oil wells and pipelines transportin g soured oils, Kraft paper production plants, photographic industry, methionine and lysine factories. Corrosion inhibitors, when present in sufficient amount, will provide protection against pitting. However, too low level of them can aggravate pitting by formin g local anodes.