Massive Accumulation of Strontium and Barium in Diplonemid Protists
Jana Pilátová, Daria Tashyreva, Jiří Týč, Marie Vancová, Syed Nadeem Hussain Bokhari, Radim Skoupý, Mariana Klementová, Hendrik Küpper, Peter Mojzeš, Julius Lukeš
Abstract
cycling in the ocean and have possibly contributed to sedimentary rock formation over long geological periods. These organisms emerged during the Neoproterozoic era (590 to 900 million years ago), prior to known coccolithophore carbonate biomineralization (~200 million years ago). Based on reported data, the distribution of diplonemids in the oceans is correlated with the occurrence of particulate barite and celestite. Finally, diplonemids may provide new insights into the long-questioned biogenic origin of particulate barite and celestite and bring more understanding of the observed spatial-temporal correlation of the minerals with marine productivity used in reconstructions of past global climate.