Search results for "MINERALIZATION"
showing 10 items of 312 documents
Photocatalytic oxidation mechanism of benzonitrile in aqueous suspensions of titanium dioxide
2007
Abstract The photocatalytic oxidation of benzonitrile was carried out in aqueous suspensions (pH 11) of commercial polycrystalline TiO 2 (Merck and Degussa P25) irradiated by ultraviolet light. The rate of decomposition was dependent on the concentration of benzonitrile and followed a pseudo-first order kinetics. The complete mineralization of a 0.70 mM benzonitrile solution was achieved in ca. 8 h by using TiO 2 Degussa P25, whereas the substrate was only partially mineralized even after 14 h of irradiation in the presence of TiO 2 Merck. The final oxidation products were carbonate and nitrate. The appearance and the evolution of organic and inorganic intermediate species were also investi…
Biogeochemical responses to nutrient, moisture and temperature manipulations of soil from Signy Island, South Orkney Islands in the Maritime Antarctic
2014
AbstractWe have investigated how the microbially-driven processes of carbon (C) mineralization (respiration) and nitrogen (N) mineralization/immobilization in a soil from the northern Maritime Antarctic respond to differences in water availability (20% and 80% water-holding capacity) and temperature (5°C and 15°C) in the presence and absence of different organic substrates (2 mg C as either glucose, glycine or tryptone soy broth (TSB) powder (a complex microbial growth medium)) in a controlled laboratory experiment over 175 days. Soil respiration and N mineralization/immobilization in the presence of a C-rich substrate (glucose) increased with increases in water and temperature. These facto…
Plant colonization of bare peat surface - relative importance of seed availability and soil
1992
A field survey on two former peat harvesting sites of similar successional age revealed a marked difference in species composition and a 30-fold difference in biomass of the established vegetation Based on this observation, a field experiment in which the substrate was changed between sites was conducted to examine whether the differences in revegetation were mainly a consequence of differences in seed supply or in substrate quality After three growing seasons, a many hundred-fold difference in plant biomass existed between the transplanted and control plots with the same substrate, but only a small difference between the plots with a different substrate within the site Biological activity …
Synthesis of calcium carbonate biological materials: how many proteins are needed?
2013
In Nature, calcium carbonate biomineralizations are the most abundant mineralized structures of biological origin. Because many exhibit remarkable characteristics, several attempts have been made to use them as substitution materials for bone reconstruction or as models for generating biomimetic composites that exhibit tailored properties. CaCO3biomineralizations contain small amounts of amalgamate of proteins and polysaccharides that are secreted during the calcification process. They contribute to control the morphology of the crystallites and to spatially organize them in well-defined microstructures. These macromolecules, collectively defined as the skeletal matrix, have been the focus …
Possible functions of biomineralization of some Textulariid (Foraminifera) species of the Nw Iberian Margin
2016
The main goal of this work is to analyze the elemental composition of the test’s wall of some species/specimens of Textulariids (sub-class Subclass Textulariia), collected in surface sediments of the NW Iberian Margin. The elemental analyses was based on the Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDS) on the Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM; Hitachi, S4100) of Textularia deltoidea, Textularia agglutinans, Sahulia conica, Karrerotextularia flintii, Siphotextularia heterostoma, Karreriella bradyi, Spiroplectammina sagittula and Arenoparrella mexicana . The elelemetal cocnentrations of the species wall were compared with the mineralogical composition (X-Ray diffraction) of the sediments of the stati…
Evolution and biomineralization of pteropod shells
2021
12 pages; International audience; Shelled pteropods, known as sea butterflies, are a group of small gastropods that spend their entire lives swimming and drifting in the open ocean. They build thin shells of aragonite, a metastable polymorph of calcium carbonate. Pteropod shells have been shown to experience dissolution and reduced thickness with a decrease in pH and therefore represent valuable bioindicators to monitor the impacts of ocean acidification. Over the past decades, several studies have highlighted the striking diversity of shell microstructures in pteropods, with exceptional mechanical properties, but their evolution and future in acidified waters remains uncertain. Here, we re…
Compartmentalization of gypsum and halite associated with cyanobacteria in saline soil crusts
2016
The interface between biological and geochemical components in surface crust of a saline soil was investigated using X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), and variable pressure scanning electron microscopy (SEM) in combination with Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectrometry (EDS). Mineral compounds such as halite and gypsum were identified crystallized around filaments of cyanobacteria. A total of 92 genera were identified from the bacterial community based on 16S gene pyrosequencing analysis. The occurrence of the gypsum crystals, their shapes and compartmentalization suggested that they separated NaCl from the immediate microenvironment of the cyanobacteria, and that some cyanobacteria and communities of su…
Genesis of amorphous calcium carbonate containing alveolar plates in the ciliate Coleps hirtus (Ciliophora, Prostomatea).
2013
7 pages; International audience; In the protist world, the ciliate Coleps hirtus (phylum Ciliophora, class Prostomatea) synthesizes a peculiar biomineralized test made of alveolar plates, structures located within alveolar vesicles at the cell cortex. Alveolar plates are arranged by overlapping like an armor and they are thought to protect and/or stiffen the cell. Although their morphology is species-specific and of complex architecture, so far almost nothing is known about their genesis, their structure and their elemental and mineral composition. We investigated the genesis of new alveolar plates after cell division and examined cells and isolated alveolar plates by electron microscopy, e…
Temperature-induced microstructural changes in shells of laboratory-grown Arctica islandica (Bivalvia).
2021
Bivalve shells are increasingly used as archives for high-resolution paleoclimate analyses. However, there is still an urgent need for quantitative temperature proxies that work without knowledge of the water chemistry–as is required for δ18O-based paleothermometry–and can better withstand diagenetic overprint. Recently, microstructural properties have been identified as a potential candidate fulfilling these requirements. So far, only few different microstructure categories (nacreous, prismatic and crossed-lamellar) of some short-lived species have been studied in detail, and in all such studies, the size and/or shape of individual biomineral units was found to increase with water temperat…
Climate variation during the Holocene influenced the skeletal properties of Chamelea gallina shells in the North Adriatic Sea (Italy)
2021
Understanding how marine taxa will respond to near-future climate changes is one of the main challenges for management of coastal ecosystem services. Ecological studies that investigate relationships between the environment and shell properties of commercially important marine species are commonly restricted to latitudinal gradients or small-scale laboratory experiments. This paper aimed to explore the variations in shell features and growth of the edible bivalve Chamelea gallina from the Holocene sedimentary succession to present-day thanatocoenosis of the Po Plain-Adriatic Sea system (Italy). Comparing the Holocene sub-fossil record to modern thanatocoenoses allowed obtaining an insight o…