Home > Press > Going nano: A new step toward understanding the processes governing freshwater ooid formation
Abstract:
Muriel Pacton et al., Geological Institute, ETH-Zürich, Rämistrasse 101, 8092 Zürich, Switzerland. Posted online 27 April 2012; doi: 10.1130/G32846.1.
Going nano: A new step toward understanding the processes governing freshwater ooid formation
Boulder, CO | Posted on April 30th, 2012
Ooids are well-rounded sand grains composed of a nucleus encompassed by poorly to well-developed concentric micritic laminae. Results presented here by Muriel Pacton and colleagues challenge the standard hypothesis that ooids are indicators of turbulent hydrodynamic conditions by showing microbes as the main agent in ooid cortex formation in a quiescent environment. Pacton and colleagues combine cutting-edge techniques (i.e., NanoSIMS ion mapping, scanning electron microscopy imaging and analysis, and secondary ion mass spectrometry delta-13C and delta-18O isotopic analyses) to identify the microbial metabolism involved in ooid cortex formation. The combined elemental mapping and stable isotope study of freshwater ooids indicate that lamina formation is the result of the mineralization of organic substances produced by photosynthetic microbes. This study illustrates the importance of physico-chemical conditions versus organo-mineralization in determining the distribution, abundance, and cortical mineralogy of oolitic sands throughout the Phanerozoic stratigraphic record of carbonate accumulation. These new data further highlight the advantage of using a nano-scale approach to better discern between the various biotic and abiotic processes linked to carbonate precipitation.
####
For more information, please click here
Contacts:
Kea Giles
Copyright © Geological Society of America
If you have a comment, please
Contact us.
Issuers of news releases, not 7th Wave, Inc. or Nanotechnology Now, are solely responsible for the accuracy of the content.
Bookmark:
Imaging
Beautiful "flowers" self-assemble in a beaker: Elaborate nanostructures blossom from a chemical reaction perfected at Harvard May 17th, 2013
News and information
Beautiful "flowers" self-assemble in a beaker: Elaborate nanostructures blossom from a chemical reaction perfected at Harvard May 17th, 2013
Artificial Forest for Solar Water-Splitting: Berkeley Lab Researchers Report First Fully Integrated Artificial Photosynthesis Nanosystem May 17th, 2013
Moth-Inspired Nanostructures Take the Color Out of Thin Films May 17th, 2013
NIA Public Briefing: Nanotechnology and the Council of Europe May 17th, 2013
Discoveries
Beautiful "flowers" self-assemble in a beaker: Elaborate nanostructures blossom from a chemical reaction perfected at Harvard May 17th, 2013
Artificial Forest for Solar Water-Splitting: Berkeley Lab Researchers Report First Fully Integrated Artificial Photosynthesis Nanosystem May 17th, 2013
Moth-Inspired Nanostructures Take the Color Out of Thin Films May 17th, 2013
Scientists capture first direct proof of Hofstadter butterfly effect May 17th, 2013
Announcements
Artificial Forest for Solar Water-Splitting: Berkeley Lab Researchers Report First Fully Integrated Artificial Photosynthesis Nanosystem May 17th, 2013
Moth-Inspired Nanostructures Take the Color Out of Thin Films May 17th, 2013
NIA Public Briefing: Nanotechnology and the Council of Europe May 17th, 2013
Scientists capture first direct proof of Hofstadter butterfly effect May 17th, 2013
Tools
Beautiful "flowers" self-assemble in a beaker: Elaborate nanostructures blossom from a chemical reaction perfected at Harvard May 17th, 2013
Scientists capture first direct proof of Hofstadter butterfly effect May 17th, 2013
DNA-Guided Assembly Yields Novel Ribbon-Like Nanostructures: Approach could be useful in fabricating new kinds of materials with engineered properties May 16th, 2013
RUB physicists let magnetic dipoles interact on the nanoscale for the first time: 'Of great technical interest for future hard disk drives' May 15th, 2013