RT Journal Article
T1 Microstructure and Texture of Foraminiferal Ca-Carbonate: The Different Biomineralization Strategies of Rotaliida, Robertinida, and Miliolida
A1 Sancho Vaquer, Anna
A1 Griesshaber, Erika
A1 Meilland, Julie
A1 Fernández Díaz, María Lourdes
A1 Yin, Xiaofei
A1 Lastam, Jeraldine
A1 De Nooijer, Lennart
A1 Kucera, Michal
A1 Schmahl, Wolfgang W.
AB We report differences for shell calcite and aragonite crystallography and crystal organization for Neogloboquadrina dutertrei (Rotaliida), Hoeglundina elegans (Robertinida), Pyrgo murrhina, Triloculina sp., and Quinqueloculina sp. (Miliolida). Crystals were investigated with electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) and high-resolution field-emission SEM (FE-SEM) imaging. Rotaliid and robertinid crystals have dendritic-fractal morphologies, interdigitate strongly, and are twinned. First-formed N. dutertrei calcite crystallites are fibrils. Arrays of these form bundles and evolve into densely mineralized crystal entities. First-formed H. elegans aragonite crystallites are granules. These nucleate onto a membranous template and evolve into laths and undulated laminae. The latter are stacked in parallel and generate round-shaped crystal units. H. elegans aragonite and N. dutertrei calcite have an axial-crystal-texture at nucleation onto the template. For H. elegans, the latter is maintained for the entire shell. For N. dutertrei, the axial-crystal-texture transforms to a single-crystal-texture toward distal shell surface. For N. dutertrei, the change in crystal texture is controlled by the crystal growth process and growth competition. Crystal growth controlled by growth competition is not observed for H. elegans aragonite or miliolid calcite. Miliolid calcite is not twinned. It is a meshwork of nanometer-sized single-crystal rods, interspersed by nanometer-sized single-crystal rhombohedra. At the proximal shell surface, the rods do not have preferred orientation. At the distal shell surface, the calcite is rather granular, co-oriented, and textured. For all investigated species, calcite/aragonite c-axis rotates with shell curvature. Despite distinct foraminiferal shell crystallographic-structural differences, we find similarity for crystal nucleation. Nonetheless, for the investigated species, crystal growth is modulated by different growth determinants.
PB American Chemical Society
SN 1528-7483
YR 2025
FD 2025
LK https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/120795
UL https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/120795
LA eng
NO Sancho Vaquer, A., Griesshaber, E., Meilland, J., Fernández-Díaz, L., Yin, X., Lastam, J., De Nooijer, L., Kucera, M., & Schmahl, W. W. (2025). Microstructure and texture of foraminiferal ca-carbonate: The different biomineralization strategies of rotaliida, robertinida, and miliolida. Crystal Growth & Design, 25(10), 3274-3297. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.cgd.4c01531
NO Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
NO Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (España)
DS Docta Complutense
RD 21 dic 2025