Crystallography of craniid brachiopods by electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD)

Citation

Pérez-Huerta A, England J & Cusack M (2007) Crystallography of craniid brachiopods by electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD). Earth and Environmental Science Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, 98 (3-4), pp. 437-442. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1755691007079832

Abstract
Electronbackscatter diffraction (EBSD) is used to determine the detailed crystallographic orientation of calcite crystals of craniid brachiopods in the context of shell ultrastructure. Sections of shells of two Recent species, Novocrania anomala and Novocrania huttoni, are analysed to provide 3D crystallographic patterns at high spatial resolution. The c-axis of semi-nacre calcite crystals is oriented parallel to the laminae that define the ultrastructure of the secondary layer. This orientation differs from that of rhynchonelliform calcitic brachiopods where the c-axis is perpendicular to the length of morphological fibres and to the shell exterior.

Keywords
Brachiopoda; calcite; c-axis; Novocrania anomala; Novocrania huttoni; secondary layer; semi-nacre

Journal
Earth and Environmental Science Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh: Volume 98, Issue 3-4