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Strontium-86 labeling experiments show spatially heterogeneous skeletal formation in the scleractinian coral Porites porites
Geological and Environmental Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, California, USA
Marine Environment Laboratories, International Atomic Energy Agency, Principality of Monaco, Monaco
Laboratoire de Minéralogie et Cosmochimie du Muséum (LMCM), UMS NanoAnalyses 2679, Muséum National D'Histoire Naturelle, Paris, France
UMR8148, IDES, Université Paris XI, Orsay, France
Instytut Paleobiologii PAN, Warszawa, Poland
Laboratoire de Minéralogie et Cosmochimie du Muséum (LMCM), UMS NanoAnalyses 2679, Muséum National D'Histoire Naturelle, Paris, France
Centre Scientifique de Monaco, Principality of Monaco, Monaco
Département Milieux et Peuplements Aquatiques, UMR5178, Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris, France
Geological and Environmental Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, California, USA
This paper presents the results of an effort to label calcium carbonates formed by marine organisms with stable isotopes to obtain information about the biomineralization processes. The growing skeleton of the scleractinian coral Porites porites was labeled three times with enhanced abundances of 86Sr. The distribution of 86Sr in the skeleton was imaged with the NanoSIMS ion microprobe with a spatial resolution of ∼200 nm and combined with images of the skeletal ultra-structure. Importantly, the distribution of the 86Sr label in the P. porites skeleton was found to be strongly heterogeneous. This constrains the physical dimensions of the hypothetical Extracellular Calcifying Fluid (ECF) reservoir at the surface of the growing skeleton, which is implicit in most geochemical models for coral biomineralization. These new experimental capabilities allow for a much more detailed view of the growth dynamics for a wide range of marine organisms that biomineralize carbonate structures.
Received 24 November 2008; accepted 14 January 2009; published 19 February 2009.
Citation: (2009), Strontium-86 labeling experiments show spatially heterogeneous skeletal formation in the scleractinian coral Porites porites, Geophys. Res. Lett., 36, L04604, doi:10.1029/2008GL036782.
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