Phylum ectoprocta, order cheilostomata: microprobe analysis of calcium, magnesium, strontium, and phosphorus in skeletons

Calcium, magnesium, and strontium occur in approximately constant ratios in traverses through skeletal walls of a single mineralogy (either calcite or aragonite). Skeletal walls of more than one mineralogy have the magnesium-rich layer (calcite) surrounding the living chamber and the strontium-rich layer (aragonite) on the outside. In contrast, phosphorus may be present in greater or lesser amounts in different parts of the same calcite skeletal wall. Aragonitic crystallites appear oriented roughly perpendicular to skeletal walls, whereas calcitic crystallites are parallel to skeletal walls.     

香螺壳和毛蚶壳的相组成及组织形态分析

采用X射线衍射方法(XRD)对香螺壳和毛蚶壳由表至里逐层进行相分析，同时用扫描电镜(SEM)对两种壳体横断面各层显微组织进行观察。结果表明，香螺壳的外层(角质层)和中层(棱柱层)的相组成为斜方六面体(ohcdral)结构的方解石(bonate)型碳酸钙，而内层(珍珠层)则是由方解石和文石(aragonitc)两种晶体结构的碳酸钙共同组成的。而毛蚶壳各层均由方解石型碳酸钙组成。香螺壳各层的组织较毛蚶壳致密且生长取向各异。     

Magnesium interaction with the surface of calcite in seawater

Magnesian calcite overgrowth containing 4 (+/- 2) mole percent magnesium carbonate forms on calcite exposed to natural seawater near the ocean surface. This magnesian calcite is approximately 30 percent less soluble in seawater than pure calcite. The formation of the magnesian calcite of reduced solubility may have a major influence on calcite accumulation in deep sea sediments.     

黑水鸡卵壳超微结构的扫描电镜观察

黑水鸡卵壳的扫描电镜观察表明,壳膜层由膜带状,沟状和线状纤维构成。纤维上有球状、茬状芽突和纤维孔,有的纤维伸向锥体内,可能参与气孔的形成;乳锥层的锥体为多角形,锥突有盘状花瓣状多种形态,有纤维锚连其上,锥核也有多种;柱状层气孔管内有球形塞和膜状横隔,有助于控制气流;表层下尚有块状结晶层。     

Paper Coal in Indiana

The foliated, papery texture of the upper third of an 18-inch coal seam in a strip mine near Rockville, Indiana, is attributable to matted plant cuticle. The cuticles of pinnules, pinnae, and rachides resemble Sphenopteris bradfordii Arnold and thus differ from the lycopsid stem cuticles of the Russian paper coal.     

Total alignment of calcite at acidic polydiacetylene films: cooperativity at the organic-inorganic interface

Biological matrices can direct the absolute alignment of inorganic crystals such as calcite. Cooperative effects at an organic-inorganic interface resulted in similar co-alignment of calcite at polymeric Langmuir-Schaefer films of 10,12-pentacosadiynoic acid (p-PDA). The films nucleated calcite at the (012) face, and the crystals were co-aligned with respect to the polymer's conjugated backbone. At the same time, the p-PDA alkyl side chains reorganized to optimize the stereochemical fit to the calcite structure, as visualized by changes in the optical spectrum of the polymer. These results indicate the kinds of interactions that may occur in biological systems where large arrays of crystals are co-aligned.     

High-magnesian calcite: leaching of magnesium in the deep sea

The high-magnesian calcite fraction of a shallow-water carbonate sand was converted to low-magnesian calcite after transport to the deep sea; strontium was also leached from the carbonate. Oxygen isotopic ratios indicate that loss of magnesium and strontium took place during recrystallization of the carbonate in the deep sea; this process did not alter textures of skeletal fragments. Previously, high-magnesian, calcite was thought only to dissolve in the deep sea.     

Subaerial diagenesis of carbonate sediments: efficiency of the solution-reprecipitation process

Interaction between percolating groludwaters and aragonitic carbonate sediments within the vadose zone of the coral cap of Barbados, West Indies, results in dissolution of aragonite and concurrent reprecipitation as low-magnesium calcite. Comparison of the ratios of strontium to calcium in groundwater, aragonitic carbonate, and recrystallized calcite indicates that locally the solution-reprecipitation process is operating at an efficiency greater than 90 percent.     

Calcite: rates of dissolution in a vertical profile in the central pacific

Rate of dissoluton of calcium carbonate (calcite) was determined for a vertical profile 5000 mizeters deep in the central Pacific by measuring the loss of weight of optical calcite spheres arrayed on a mooring. Waters of the Pacific are undersaturated in all but the upper several hundred meters. A sharp increase in the rate of dissolution occurs at a depth of about 3700 meters, which corresponds closely to the depth below which calcite hias been dissolved from the sediments.     

The role of Mg2+ as an impurity in calcite growth

Magnesium is a key determinant in CaCO3 mineralization; however, macroscopic observations have failed to provide a clear physical understanding of how magnesium modifies carbonate growth. Atomic force microscopy was used to resolve the mechanism of calcite inhibition by magnesium through molecular-scale determination of the thermodynamic and kinetic controls of magnesium on calcite formation. Comparison of directly measured step velocities to standard impurity models demonstrated that enhanced mineral solubility through magnesium incorporation inhibited calcite growth. Terrace width measurements on calcite growth spirals were consistent with a decrease in effective supersaturation due to magnesium incorporation. Ca(1-x)Mg(x)CO3 solubilities determined from microscopic observations of step dynamics can thus be linked to macroscopic measurements.     

Oxygen isotope fractionation in the system dolomite-calcite-carbon dioxide

Oxygen isotopes were equilibrated between carbon dioxide and calcite at four temperatures in the range 350 degrees to 610 degrees C and between carbon dioxide and dolomite at 350 degrees and 400 degrees C. Carbon of unusual isotopic composition was used as a tracer to demonstrate the nature and extent of the exchange process. Extrapolation of these data at lower temperatures indicates that at 25 degrees C dolomite is enriched in oxygen-18 by 6.8 per mil with respect to calcite. This result indicates that those natural dolomite-calcite assemblages which show very small fractionations were not formed in isotopic equilibrium.     

Tetravalent uranium in calcite

X-ray absorption spectroscopy and x-ray fluorescence microprobe studies of 35-million-year-old calcite from a Mississippi Valley-type zinc ore deposit indicate substitution of tetravalent uranium for divalent calcium. Thus, tetravalent uranium has a stable location in calcite deposited under reducing conditions. This result validates uranium-series dating methods (including uranium/lead dating) for ancient calcite and shows that calcite provides a sink for uranium in deep groundwater aquifers and anoxic lacustrine and marine basins.     

Intercalation of sea urchin proteins in calcite: study of a crystalline composite material

Sea urchin skeletal elements are composed of single crystals of calcite. Unlike their synthetic counterparts, these crystals do not have well-developed cleavage and are consequently much more resistant to fracture. This phenomenon is due in part to the presence of acidic glycoproteins occluded within the crystals. By means of x-ray diffraction with synchrotron radiation, it is shown that the presence of the protein in synthetic calcite only slightly decreases the coherence length but significantly increases the angular spread of perfect domains of the crystals. In biogenic calcite, the coherence length is 1/3 to 1/4 as much as that in synthetic calcite and the angular spread is 20 to 50 times as wide. It is proposed that the presence of macromolecules concentrated at mosaic boundaries that are oblique to deavage planes is responsible for the change in fracture properties. These results may be important in the material sciences, because of the unusual nature of this material, namely, a composite based on the controlled intercalation of macromolecules inside single-crystal lattices.     

Rapid acidification of the ocean during the Paleocene-Eocene thermal maximum

The Paleocene-Eocene thermal maximum (PETM) has been attributed to the rapid release of approximately 2000 x 10(9) metric tons of carbon in the form of methane. In theory, oxidation and ocean absorption of this carbon should have lowered deep-sea pH, thereby triggering a rapid (<10,000-year) shoaling of the calcite compensation depth (CCD), followed by gradual recovery. Here we present geochemical data from five new South Atlantic deep-sea sections that constrain the timing and extent of massive sea-floor carbonate dissolution coincident with the PETM. The sections, from between 2.7 and 4.8 kilometers water depth, are marked by a prominent clay layer, the character of which indicates that the CCD shoaled rapidly (<10,000 years) by more than 2 kilometers and recovered gradually (>100,000 years). These findings indicate that a large mass of carbon (>2000 x 10(9) metric tons of carbon) dissolved in the ocean at the Paleocene-Eocene boundary and that permanent sequestration of this carbon occurred through silicate weathering feedback.     

Carbonate compensation depth: relation to carbonate solubility in ocean waters

In situ calcium carbonate saturometry measurements suggest that the intermediate water masses of the central Pacific Ocean are close to saturation with resppect to both calcite and local carbonate sediment. The carbonate compensation depth, located at about 3700 meters in this area, appears to represent a depth above which waters are essentially saturated with respect to calcite and below which waters deviate toward undersaturation with respect to calcite.     

Micromorphological Features of Old Cultivated and Modern Soils in Guanzhong Areas, Shaanxi Province, China

Using the data obtained from the LGT soil profile, this article attempts to illustrate the process of modem soil formation in the Guanzhong areas and its micromorphological features. The micromorphology is observed under a petrographic microscope, and its image is quantitatively measured by LEICAL Qwin 2.6 software. Micromorphological observations of the thin sections show that the assemblage of minerals in different horizons is very similar, which is mainly composed of Q and P1. However, there are obvious differences in C/F15μm ratio, mineral content, and coarse features. The pedofeatures is mainly composed of clay, calcite, and amorphous Fe. Ap horizon is characterized by abundant needleshaped secondary calcite, secondary clay, and earthworm fecal pellet. BC horizon is characterized by a large quantity of secondary calcite with various shapes. Bt1and Bt2 horizons are characterized by abundant clay hypocoatings and a small quantity of secondary calcite. All the results of this research suggest that Earth-cumulic Orthic Anthrosols consist of both the upper Ap horizon, which cause loessal dung and eolian dust deposition, and cultivation occurs simultaneously during the process of Ap horizon-formation, and the lower BC horizon, which is aeolian sedimentary at the time of relative aridity during late Holocene.     

Biological control of crystal texture: a widespread strategy for adapting crystal properties to function

Textures of calcite crystals from a variety of mineralized tissues belonging to organisms from four phyla were examined with high-resolution synchrotron x-ray radiation. Significant differences in coherence length and angular spread were observed between taxonomic groups. Crystals from polycrystalline skeletal ensembles were more perfect than those that function as single-crystal elements. Different anisotropic effects on crystal texture were observed for sea urchin and mollusk calcite crystals, whereas none was found for the foraminifer, Patellina, and the control calcite crystals. These results show that the manipulation of crystal texture in different organisms is under biological control and that crystal textures in some tissues are adapted to function. A better understanding of this apparently widespread biological phenomenon may provide new insights for improving synthetic crystal-containing materials.     

Skeletal low-magnesium calcite in living scleractinian corals

The skeletons of living specimens of the scleractinian coral Porites lobata have been found to contain up to 46 +/- 5 percent low-magnesium calcite even though free of gross detrital inclusions and boring or encrusting organisms. The calcite crystals occur in the interior of skeletal structures, have dimensions of 20 micrometers or less, and are surrounded by typical aragonite needles. Biogenic deposition seems to be the most likely source of the calcite, although the evidence does not rule out diagenesis of metastable.     

Time and metamorphic petrology: calcite to aragonite experiments

Although the equilibrium phase relations of many mineral systems are generally well established, the rates of transformations, particularly in polycrystalline rocks, are not. The results of experiments on the calcite to aragonite transformation in polycrystalline marble are different from those for earlier experiments on powdered and single-crystal calcite. The transformation in the polycrystalline samples occurs by different mechanisms, with a different temperature dependence, and at a markedly slower rate. This work demonstrates the importance of kinetic studies on fully dense polycrystalline aggregates for understanding mineralogic phase changes in nature. Extrapolation of these results to geological time scales suggests that transformation of calcite to aragonite does not occur in the absence of volatiles at temperatures below 200 degrees C. Kinetic hindrance is likely to extend to higher temperatures in more complex transformations.     

钙质结核的微形态及矿物学特征

土壤中的钙质结核可分为软结核、硬结核和钙质硬盘３种形态，其化学组成以ＣａＣＯ３为主，矿质全量组成的各氧化物平均含量水平的顺序为：ＣａＯ〉ＳｉＯ２〉Ａｌ２Ｏ３〉Ｆｅ２Ｏ３〉ＭｇＯ〉Ｋ２Ｏ〉Ｎａ２Ｏ〉ＴｉＯ２〉ＭｎＯ〉Ｐ２Ｏ５。但在某些软结核中，ＳｉＯ２含量仍大于ＣａＯ含量。微形态分析结果表明，软结核为碳酸盐颗粒的胶结体，常嵌埋较多的土壤基质、石英、长石等粗颗粒；硬结核多为碳酸盐和方解石的胶结体，许多