An uneven distribution of strontium in the coccolithophore <i>Scyphosphaera apsteinii</i> revealed by nanoscale X-ray fluorescence tomography
Jessica M. Walker, Hallam J. M. Greene, Yousef Moazzam, Paul D. Quinn, Julia E. Parker, Gerald Langer
Abstract
display stripes of different Sr concentration. The presence of Sr stripes is unaffected by elevated Sr in the culture medium, macro-nutrient concentration, and light intensity, indicating that the observed stripiness is an expression of the fundamental coccolith formation process in this species. Current Sr fractionation models, by contrast, predict an even Sr distribution and will have to be modified to account for this stripiness. Additionally, nano-XANES analyses show that Sr resides in a Ca site in the calcite lattice in both high and low Sr stripes, confirming a central assumption of current Sr fractionation models.
Topics & Concepts
CoccolithophorePhytoplanktonStrontiumCoccolithEmiliania huxleyiNanoscopic scaleFluorescenceCarbonateOceanographyGeologyChemistryBiologyMaterials scienceEcologyNanotechnologyPhysicsOpticsOrganic chemistryNutrientPaleontology and Stratigraphy of FossilsCalcium Carbonate Crystallization and InhibitionMarine Biology and Ecology Research