Coccolith masses

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Dear collegues,

We are a group working on fluxes of extant coccoliths in the North Atlantic 
and the Indian Ocean. We try to estimate the magnitude of coccolith calcite 
fluxes through the application of calcite masses of single coccoliths of a 
particular species to its flux of coccoliths. For a limited number of species 
such coccolith weights are known in the literature either from lab 
experiments or from morphometrically derived estimates; for most extant 
coccolithophorids, however, no such data exist at all, and estimates are based 
on assumptions.

Therefore, let me ask you:
Are there literature data, or unpublished data, available about calcite masses 
(or Ca++ contents) per coccolith and for various species ? Observations on any 
living coccolithophorid would be of great interest. Thanks a lot !

Michael Knappertsbusch
Natural History Museum Basel
Augustinergasse 2
4001-Basel, Switzerland

Tel.: +41-61-266 55 64
Fax: +41-61-266 55 46
Email: Knappertsbus@ubaclu.unibas.ch