The mineralogy and chemistry of modern shallow-water and deep-sea corals

The architecture of coral reef ecosystems is composed of coral skeletons built from the mineral aragonite (CaCO3). Coral reefs are currently being threatened by ocean acidification (OA), which may lower calcification rates, reduce skeletal density, and increase aragonite dissolution. Crystallography and chemistry are what govern the materials properties of minerals, such solubility and strength. Thus, understanding the mineralogical nature of coral aragonite and how it forms are important for predicting bulk skeletal responses under climate change. Different models based on geochemical versus biological controls over coral skeleton biomineralization propose conflicting predictions about the fate of corals under OA. Rather than investigating the mechanism directly, I use a mineralogical approach to study the aragonite end-products of coral biomineralization.

Name thesis:degree_name

Doctoral

Department dc:contributor.department

Joint Program in Oceanography/Applied Ocean Science and Engineering

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2019

Author dc:creator

• Farfan, Gabriela A.(Gabriela Aylin)

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Colleen M. Hansel.

• Joint Program in Oceanography/Applied Ocean Science and Engineering.
• Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences.
• Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.

Statement dc:rights

• MIT theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed, downloaded, or printed from this source but further reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/122323

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/122323