Black Sea Pyrite

In this photo, coccospheres, which consists of coccoliths or individual plates of calcium carbonate, are mineralized in the poisonous sediments of the Black Sea. Coccoliths are produced by coccolithophores, or single-celled algae such as Emiliania huxley. The coccoliths are produced inside the cell and then incorporated into the exterior of cell, or the coccosphere, which is essentially a spherical layer of coccoliths. The study of coccoliths are important because they demonstrate how an organic system has precise control of inorganic mineral growth.

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Image credit: D. Breger, LDEO