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Unusual Micrometric Calcite-Aragonite Interface in the Abalone Shell Haliotis (Mollusca, Gastropoda)

Dauphin, Yannicke ; Cuif, Jean-Pierre ; Castillo-Michel, Hiram ; Chevallard, Corinne ; Farre, Bastien ; Meibom, Anders

In: Microscopy and Microanalysis, 2014, vol. 20, no. 1, p. 276-284

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    Title
    • Unusual Micrometric Calcite-Aragonite Interface in the Abalone Shell Haliotis (Mollusca, Gastropoda)
    Author
    • Dauphin, Yannicke. UMR 8148 IDES, bât. 504, Université Paris Sud, 91405 Orsay cedex, France
    • Cuif, Jean-Pierre. UMR 8148 IDES, bât. 504, Université Paris Sud, 91405 Orsay cedex, France
    • Castillo-Michel, Hiram. ID21, ESRF, BP 220, 6 rue J. Horowitz, 38043 Grenoble, France
    • Chevallard, Corinne. UMR SIS2M 3299, LIONS, CEA, 91191 Gif sur Yvette, France
    • Farre, Bastien. UMR 8148 IDES, bât. 504, Université Paris Sud, 91405 Orsay cedex, France
    • Meibom, Anders. Laboratory for Biological Geochemistry, School of Architecture, ENAC, EPFL, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland
    Document Type
    • Postprint
    Language
    • English
    Published in
    • Microscopy and Microanalysis, 2014, vol. 20, no. 1, p. 276-284. Cambridge University Press
    Other Version
    OAI-PMH Identifier
    • oai:doc.rero.ch:289316
    Summary
    Species of Haliotis (abalone) show high variety in structure and mineralogy of the shell. One of the European species (Haliotis tuberculata) in particular has an unusual shell structure in which calcite and aragonite coexist at a microscale with small patches of aragonite embedded in larger calcitic zones. A detailed examination of the boundary between calcite and aragonite using analytical microscopies shows that the organic contents of calcite and aragonite differ. Moreover, changes in the chemical composition of the two minerals seem to be gradual and define a micrometric zone of transition between the two main layers. A similar transition zone has been observed between the layers in more classical and regularly structured mollusk shells. The imbrication of microscopic patches of aragonite within a calcitic zone suggests the occurrence of very fast physiological changes in these taxa