Tracking single coccolith dissolution with picogram resolution and implications for CO2 sequestration and ocean acidification.

ABSTRACT: Coccoliths are micrometer scale shields made from 20 to 60 individual calcite (CaCO(3)) crystals that are produced by some species of algae. Currently, coccoliths serve as an important sink in the global carbon cycle, but decreasing ocean pH challenges their stability. Chalk deposits, the fossil remains of ancient algae, have remained remarkably unchanged by diagenesis, the process that converts sediment to rock. Even after 60 million years, the fossil coccolith crystals are still tiny (< 1 μm), compared with inorganically produced calcite, where one day old crystals can be 10 times larger, which raises the question if the biogenic nature of coccolith calcite gives it different properties than inorganic calcite? And if so, can these properties protect coccoliths in CO(2) challenged oceans?

SUBMITTER: Hassenkam T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3102388 | biostudies-literature | 2011 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature