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Experimental crystals

Crystals of aragonite, a form of calcium carbonate, grew together in a “bowtie” bundle—a classic mineral crystal growth pattern—when grown in the laboratory under controlled experimental conditions. This experiment is part of an ongoing study by WHOI scientists Anne Cohen and Glenn Gaetani to understand how changes in ocean conditions influence the chemistry of calcium carbonate skeletons produced by marine organisms. They are using this information to develop new geochemical proxies for ocean climate.
(Photo by Anne Cohen, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)