Weddellite in a Marine Gastropod and in Antarctic Sediments

• Published in: Science
• Main Author: Lowenstam, H. A.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: unknown
• Published: American Association for the Advancement of Science 1968
• Subjects: Antarctic; Weddell; Weddell Sea; Antarc*; Antarctica
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1126/science.162.3858.1129

The calcium oxalate dihydrate mineral, weddellite, has been identified in a microarchitectural component of the gizzard plates from the deepwater gastropod Scaphander cylindrellus. This is the first indication of nonpathologic precipitation of this mineral by an animal species. A new occurrence of weddellite in sediments from the Weddell Sea, Antarctica, is also reported, lending support to the earlier interpretation that the mineral is an authigenic constituent of the sediments in this area. © 1968 American Association for the Advancement of Science. Received 6 August 1968; revised 30 September 1968. Contribution No. 1552 from the Division of Geological Sciences, California Institute of Technology. Supported by NSF grant GB-6707X. I thank M. Dekkers, A. Chodos, and B. Carter, for technical assistance; C. Hubbs, for facilitating my participation in the Magdalena Bay Expedition; and M. Keen, for identification of the specimen.