The strontium-calcium atom ratio in carbonate-secreting marine organisms
Thompson, T.G.; Chow, T.J. (1955). The strontium-calcium atom ratio in carbonate-secreting marine organisms, in: Papers in Marine Biology and Oceanography. Dedicated to Henry Bryant Bigelow, By His Former Students and Associates on the occasion of The Twenty-fifth Anniversary of the Founding of The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution 1955 . Deep-Sea Research (1953), 3(Supplement): pp. 20-39 In: (1955). Papers in Marine Biology and Oceanography. Dedicated to Henry Bryant Bigelow, By His Former Students and Associates on the occasion of The Twenty-fifth Anniversary of the Founding of The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution 1955. Deep-Sea Research (1953), 3(Supplement). Pergamon Press: London & New York. 498 pp., more In: Deep-Sea Research (1953). Pergamon: Oxford; New York. ISSN 0146-6291; e-ISSN 1878-2485, more |   |
| Abstract | The purpose of the present investigation was to study the distribution of strontium and calcium in the biosphere. The contents of strontium and calcium in 250 species of carbonate-secreting marine organisms were determined. The strontium-calcium atom ratio in calcareous portions of marine organisms ranged from 1.0 to 11 x 10-3. With the exception of Nudibranchia and Madreporaria, the atom ratio in marine organisms was less than that of sea water, 8 .9 x 10-3. The strontium-calcium atom ratios in marine organisms appeared to be constant in accordance with their phylogenetic classification. Specimens of different species collected from a common ecological community showed diverse strontium-calcium atom ratios. On the other hand, the similar types of marine organisms living under different environmental conditions from arctic to tropical oceans, showed constant strontium-calcium atom ratios. Variations in salinity and temperature of sea water were apparently not the factors which influenced the strontium-calcium atom ratio in calcareous shells. The mineralogical properties of calcium carbonate in marine organisms demonstrated a definite correlation with the occurrence of strontium. The marine organisms containing calcium carbonate as aragonite had strontium-calcium atom ratios greater than those as calcite. Samples of deep-sea sediments and Clobigerina ooze showed strontium-calcium atom ratios of 1.94 x 10-3 and 1.49 x 10-3, respectively. The limestone deposits, which originated from marine organisms, had the smallest strontium-calcium atom ratio, 0.63 x 10-3, of all materials examined. Apparently, the matrix of calcareous deposits of marine origin has lost strontium during geological time. |
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