I have been contacted by a doctoral student who has been running
experiments measuring the amount of calcium carbonate in a shell shell
(or 1 gram of it anyway). We all know a shell is made of of calcium
carbonate (calcite and aragonite) with just a bit of conchiolin for
adhesive purposes, but his results only show from 50 to 75% of the
materiel is calcium carbonate. What else is there? I do know that
both magnesium and strontium can replace some of the CaCO3, but that
much? I am way over my head with this one, but any hints will be
gratefully passed on. Thanks,
Tom E
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