Premium
Vital effects in coral skeletal composition display strict three‐dimensional control
Author(s) -
Meibom Anders,
Yurimoto Hiyayoshi,
Cuif JeanPierre,
DomartCoulon Isabelle,
Houlbreque Fanny,
Constantz Brent,
Dauphin Yannicke,
Tambutté E.,
Tambutté Sylvie,
Allemand Denis,
Wooden Joseph,
Dunbar Robert
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/2006gl025968
Subject(s) - coral , skeleton (computer programming) , trace element , composition (language) , anthozoa , δ13c , calcification , carbon skeleton , geology , chemistry , environmental chemistry , stable isotope ratio , biology , oceanography , geochemistry , anatomy , organic chemistry , medicine , linguistics , philosophy , physics , quantum mechanics , pathology
Biological control over coral skeletal composition is poorly understood but critically important to paleo‐environmental reconstructions. We present micro‐analytical measurements of trace‐element abundances as well as oxygen and carbon isotopic compositions of individual skeletal components in the zooxanthellate coral Colpophyllia sp . Our data show that centers of calcification (COC) have higher trace element concentrations and distinctly lighter isotopic compositions than the fibrous components of the skeleton. These observations necessitate that COC and the fibrous skeleton are precipitated by different mechanisms, which are controlled by specialized domains of the calicoblastic cell‐layer. Biological processes control the composition of the skeleton even at the ultra‐structure level.