Exponential crystallization in corals.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 41702911.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/s41467-026-69215-4 and PMC identifier 13022257.
- Licence recorded as CC BY-NC-ND.
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Abstract
Corals form their reef-building aragonite (CaCO<sub>3</sub>) skeletons via transient precursor phases yet understanding of the dynamics of these early-stage transformations remains incomplete. Using time-independent myriad mapping (MM) at 50 nm resolution, we map five mineral phases near the skeleton surface of Stylophora pistillata corals grown in varying seawater pH. All precursors, crystalline and amorphous, exhibit a consistent exponential decay from the growth front, with a shared decay length of 0.7 ± 0.1 μm, independent of time, phase, or pH. This spatial decay, paired with the constant growth rate of the skeleton, reveals a decay time of 5.1 ± 0.5 minutes. The dominant precursor is not amorphous but crystalline: calcium carbonate hemihydrate (CCHH, CaCO₃·½H₂O). These results suggest that exponential crystallization kinetics govern coral biomineralization and may be a widespread feature in biogenic, geologic, and synthetic systems-traceable long after initial mineral deposition.
Medical subject headings
- Anthozoa
- Calcium Carbonate