New highlights of phytolith structure and occluded carbon location: 3-D X-ray microscopy and NanoSIMS results

Alexandre, A.; Basile-Doelsch, I.; Delhaye, T.; Borshneck, D.; Mazur, J. C.; Reyerson, P.; Santos, G. M.

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-12-863-2015

Articles | Volume 12, issue 3

https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-12-863-2015

© Author(s) 2015. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-12-863-2015

© Author(s) 2015. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.

Articles | Volume 12, issue 3

Research article

|

12 Feb 2015

Research article |

| 12 Feb 2015

New highlights of phytolith structure and occluded carbon location: 3-D X-ray microscopy and NanoSIMS results

A. Alexandre, I. Basile-Doelsch, T. Delhaye, D. Borshneck, J. C. Mazur, P. Reyerson, and G. M. Santos

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Final revised paper (published on 12 Feb 2015)
Preprint (discussion started on 14 Oct 2014)

Interactive discussion

Status: closed

AC: Author comment | RC: Referee comment | SC: Short comment | EC: Editor comment

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- Supplement

RC C6199: 'Phytolith structure and occluded carbon', Anonymous Referee #1, 27 Oct 2014
- AC C6306: 'Reply to comment from referee #1', Anne Alexandre, 30 Oct 2014
RC C6488: 'Referee Comments', Anonymous Referee #2, 06 Nov 2014
- AC C6540: 'Answer to referee #2', Anne Alexandre, 07 Nov 2014

Peer-review completion

AR: Author's response | RR: Referee report | ED: Editor decision

AR by Anne Alexandre on behalf of the Authors (19 Dec 2014) Author's response Manuscript

ED: Publish subject to technical corrections (12 Jan 2015) by Jack Middelburg

AR by Anne Alexandre on behalf of the Authors (15 Jan 2015)

Short summary

Phytoliths contain occluded organic compounds called phytC. The nature and location of phytC in biogenic silica structures is poorly understood. Here, we reconstructed the 3-D structure of phytoliths using 3-D Xray microscopy. We further evidenced a pool of phytC, continuously distributed in the silica structure, using nanoscale secondary ion mass spectrometry (NanoSIMS). Our findings allowed the re-evaluation of previous suggestions regarding phytC quantification and environmental meaning.