Articles | Volume 14, issue 6
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-14-1493-2017
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-14-1493-2017
Research article
 | 
24 Mar 2017
Research article |  | 24 Mar 2017

Physiology regulates the relationship between coccosphere geometry and growth phase in coccolithophores

Rosie M. Sheward, Alex J. Poulton, Samantha J. Gibbs, Chris J. Daniels, and Paul R. Bown

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Coccosphere geometry measurements from culture experiments on the coccolithophore species Calcidiscus leptoporus, Calcidiscus quadriperforatus and Helicosphaera carteri. R. M. Sheward, A. J. Poulton, and S. J. Gibbs https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.865403

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Short summary
Our culture experiments on modern Coccolithophores find that physiology regulates shifts in the geometry of their carbonate shells (coccospheres) between growth phases. This provides a tool to access growth information in modern and past populations. Directly comparing modern species with fossil coccospheres derives a new proxy for investigating the physiology that underpins phytoplankton responses to environmental change through geological time.
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