Calcium Carbonate Hexahydrate from Organic-Rich Sediments of the Antarctic Shelf: Precursors of Glendonites

• Published in: Science
• Main Authors: Suess, E., Balzer, W., Hesse, K.-F., Müller, P. J., Ungerer, C. A., Wefer, G.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) 1982
• Subjects: Antarctic; Antarctic Peninsula; Bransfield Strait; The Antarctic; Antarc*
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.216.4550.1128; https://www.science.org/doi/pdf/10.1126/science.216.4550.1128

Large euhedral crystals of calcium carbonate hexahydrate were recovered from a shelf basin of the Bransfield Strait, Antarctic Peninsula, at a water depth of 1950 meters and sub-zero bottom water temperatures. The chemistry, mineralogy, and stable isotope composition of this hydrated calcium carbonate phase, its environment of formation, and its mode of precipitation confirm the properties variously attributed to hypothetical precursors of the glendonites and thereby greatly expand their use in paleoceanographic interpretation.