Issue 6, 2024

An uneven distribution of strontium in the coccolithophore Scyphosphaera apsteinii revealed by nanoscale X-ray fluorescence tomography

Abstract

Coccolithophores are biogeochemically and ecologically important phytoplankton that produce a composite calcium carbonate-based exoskeleton – the coccosphere – comprised of individual platelets, known as coccoliths. Coccoliths are stunning examples of biomineralization; their formation featuring exceptional control over both biomineral chemistry and shape. Understanding how coccoliths are formed requires information about minor element distribution and chemical environment. Here, the first high-resolution 3D synchrotron X-ray fluorescence (XRF) mapping of a coccolith is presented, showing that the lopadoliths of Scyphosphaera apsteinii display stripes of different Sr concentration. The presence of Sr stripes is unaffected by elevated Sr in the culture medium, macro-nutrient concentration, and light intensity, indicating that the observed stripiness is an expression of the fundamental coccolith formation process in this species. Current Sr fractionation models, by contrast, predict an even Sr distribution and will have to be modified to account for this stripiness. Additionally, nano-XANES analyses show that Sr resides in a Ca site in the calcite lattice in both high and low Sr stripes, confirming a central assumption of current Sr fractionation models.

Graphical abstract: An uneven distribution of strontium in the coccolithophore Scyphosphaera apsteinii revealed by nanoscale X-ray fluorescence tomography

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
13 Nov 2023
Accepted
28 Jan 2024
First published
14 Feb 2024
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY license

Environ. Sci.: Processes Impacts, 2024,26, 966-974

An uneven distribution of strontium in the coccolithophore Scyphosphaera apsteinii revealed by nanoscale X-ray fluorescence tomography

J. M. Walker, H. J. M. Greene, Y. Moazzam, P. D. Quinn, J. E. Parker and G. Langer, Environ. Sci.: Processes Impacts, 2024, 26, 966 DOI: 10.1039/D3EM00509G

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