Phylum Ectoprocta, Order Cheilostomata: Microprobe Analysis of Calcium, Magnesium, Strontium, and Phosphorus in Skeletons
Thomas J. M. Schopf 1 and
J. R. Allan 2
1 Department of the Geophysical Sciences, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637
2 Gulf Oil Corporation, P.O. Box 1012, Houma, Louisiana 70360
Calcium, magnesium, and strontium occur in approximately constant ratios in traverses through skeletal walls of a single mineralogy (either calcite or aragonite). Skeletal walls of more than one mineralogy have the magnesium-rich layer (calcite) surrounding the living chamber and the strontium-rich layer (aragonite) on the outside. In contrast, phosphorus may be present in greater or lesser amounts in different parts of the same calcite skeletal wall. Aragonitic crystallites appear oriented roughly perpendicular to skeletal walls, whereas calcitic crystallites are parallel to skeletal walls.
