Decay of skeletal organic matrices and early diagenesis in coral skeletons

Christine Perrin (1) , David C. Smith (2)

1 HNHP - Histoire naturelle de l'Homme préhistorique
2 LEME / UNA - Laboratoire d'Etude de la Matière Extraterrestre / UMS Nano-analyses

Due to its particular mode of growth, the coral skeleton provides a natural model for evaluating the successive stages of diagenesis in a still-living organism. The spatial distribution of skeletal organic matrices and their early diagenesis have been investigated in a scleractinian skeleton with in situ micron-scale analyses by Raman Microspectroscopy. Results indicate that the decay of the organic matrices occurs within a few years. We suggest that the gradual deterioration of the skeletal organic matrices is a keymechanism driving earliest diagenesis in coral skeletons and represents the starting-point of the process of fossilization.

Keywords: Diagenesis; Biominerals; Aragonite; Organic matrix; Scleractinian corals; Raman Microspectroscopy

Domains: Earth Sciences

Christine Perrin, David C. Smith. Decay of skeletal organic matrices and early diagenesis in coral skeletons. Comptes Rendus. Palevol, 2007, 6, pp.253-260. ⟨10.1016/j.crpv.2007.02.003⟩. ⟨mnhn-00491167⟩