Search results for "Calcite"
showing 10 items of 191 documents
A minimal molecular toolkit for mineral deposition? Biochemistry and proteomics of the test matrix of adult specimens of the sea urchin Paracentrotus…
2016
12 pages; International audience; The sea urchin endoskeleton consists of a magnesium-rich biocalcite comprising a small amount of occluded organic macromolecules. This structure constitutes a key-model for understanding the mineral - organics interplay, and for conceiving in vitro bio-inspired materials with tailored properties. Here we employed a deep-clean technique to purify the occluded proteins from adult Paracentrotus lividus tests. We characterized them by 1- and 2D-electrophoreses, ELISA and immunoblotting, and using liquid chromatography coupled with Mass Spectrometry (nanoLC-MS/MS), we identified two metalloenzymes (carbonic anhydrase and MMP), a set of MSP130 family members, sev…
Petrography and carbonate isotope stratigraphy from MIS AND-1B core, Antarctica: Evidence of the early Pliocene warming event
2011
Abstract A large portion of ANDRILL (ANtarctic geological DRILLing) core AND-1B recovered in the Western Ross Sea and spanning the early Pliocene has been investigated in order to obtain a detailed carbonate isotope record from Antarctic margin sediments through the early Pliocene warming event. Petrographic observations and mineralogical analyses reveal the authigenic nature of the carbonate and small proportions of Fe and Mg incorporated within the calcite lattice. High productivity conditions testified by ~ 80 m-thick diatomite interval (383 to 460 mbsf) well fit with the composite nature of the authigenic carbonate generally characterizing organic matter-rich sediments. As is known, sed…
Sr-isotope analysis of speleothems by LA-MC-ICP-MS: High temporal resolution and fast data acquisition
2017
Speleothems are well established climate archives. A wide array of geochemical proxies, including stable isotopes and trace elements are present within speleothems to reconstruct past climate variability. However, each proxy is influenced by multiple factors, often hampering robust interpretation. Sr isotope ratios (87Sr/86Sr) can provide useful information about water residence time and water mixing in the host rock, as they are not fractionated during calcite precipitation. Laser ablation multi-collector-inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-MC-ICP-MS) has rarely been used for determination of Sr isotope signatures in speleothems, as speleothems often do not possess appropriate…
Characterization of the Teeth Skeletal Matrix from <i>Arbacia lixula</i>
2016
The teeth of sea urchins are highly complex composite structures, composed predominantly of high magnesium calcite, and of a minor heterogeneous assemblage of organic macromolecules that are occluded within the mineral. The organic matrix fulfils important functions in mineralization, in addition to giving the mineral phase peculiar mechanical properties, different from that of purely inorganic calcite. Nevertheless, the composition and function of individual components of the organic matrix still remains largely unknown. Up to now, the detailed protein repertoire of teeth from a single sea urchin species (Strongylocentrotus purpuratus, order Camarodonta) was investigated. In this study, we…
Adsorption Structures of Amino Acids on Calcite(104)
2015
Elucidating the interaction details of proteins with the most stable cleavage plane of calcite , namely calcite(104), is of great importance for understanding the physicochemical mechanisms behind biomineralisation. In this context, amino acids are generally believed to serve as suitable model molecules, as they constitute the basic building blocks of proteins. In this work, we present a non-contact atomic force microscopy (NC-AFM) investigation of the adsorption of five proteinogenic amino acids on calcite(104) under ultra-high vacuum (UHV) conditions. For studying the structures formed from comparatively large amino acids, enantiopure tryptophan, tyrosine and aspartic acid molecules are d…
Ice nucleation properties of the most abundant mineral dust phases
2008
[1] The ice nucleation properties of the nine most abundant minerals occurring in desert aerosols (quartz, albite, microcline, kaolinite, montmorillonite, illite, calcite, gypsum, and hematite) were investigated by environmental scanning electron microscopy (ESEM). In this instrument, the pure minerals are exposed to water vapor at variable pressures and temperatures. The crystallization of ice on the mineral particles is observed by secondary electron imaging, and the supersaturation for an activated particle fraction of 1–3% is determined as function of temperature. In all experiments, condensation of water prior to ice formation was not observed within detectable limits, even at water su…
Hydrothermal macroscopic Fe-sepiolite from Oujda Mounts (Middle Atlas, Eastern Morocco)
2008
The Triassic-Jurassic series in the Oujda Mounts (Middle Atlas, NE Morocco) includes two basaltic units. The whole sequence is crosscut by veins filled with Fe-sepiolite + chalcedony + calcite + smectite and mixed layer talc-saponite. Fe-sepiolite occurs as macroscopic fibres and is one of the latest mineral phases in the filling sequence of the veins. The compositional relationships and crystallographic parameters obtained on carefully selected samples of sepiolite are compared with previous data, and support the actual development of Mg-Fe substitution in this clay mineral, given the adequate hydrothermal conditions. Genesis of this uncommon variety of sepiolite in veins is interpreted as…
Shell proteome of rhynchonelliform brachiopods.
2015
7 pages; International audience; Brachiopods are a phylum of marine invertebrates that have an external bivalved shell to protect their living tissues. With few exceptions, this biomineralized structure is composed of calcite, mixed together with a minor organic fraction, comprising secreted proteins that become occluded in the shell structure, once formed. This organic matrix is thought to display several functions, in particular, to control mineral deposition and to regulate crystallite shapes. Thus, identifying the primary structure of matrix proteins is a prerequisite for generating bioinspired materials with tailored properties. In this study, we employed a proteomic approach to identi…
Multi-isotopic and trace element evidence against different formation pathways for oyster microstructures
2021
Geochimica et cosmochimica acta 308, 326-352 (2021). doi:10.1016/j.gca.2021.06.012
Carbonate deposition and diagenesis in evaporitic environments: The evaporative and sulphur-bearing limestones during the settlement of the Messinian…
2015
The depositional and diagenetic processes involved in the formation of carbonates in the evaporitic environment of the Messinian Salinity Crisis are investigated in Southern Italy (Sicily and Calabria). Strong differences are observed between the studied sections that reflect specific depositional and diagenetic evolution in the interconnected sub-basins resulting from the syn-sedimentary tectonic fragmentation of the Central Sicilian and Calabrian domains. These carbonates formed diachronously in restricted perched sub-basins between the Tripoli Formation and the hypersaline settings of the MSC. The Calcare di Base (CdB) that can be interbedded with gypsum layers occurs rhythmically at the…