18 May 2009

Extraterrestrial Microdiamonds Found in Ancient Foraminifera 18MAY09


Image: (c) E.R. Degginger/SPL
Sea creatures had a thing for bling
New Scientist
08 May 2008 by Lewis Dartnell
Call it extraterrestrial bling. Fossilised sea creatures have been found that coated themselves in tiny diamonds created in the asteroid impact that killed off the dinosaurs.
The fossils were discovered by a team led by Michael Kaminski, a geologist at University College London. They went to the Umbria-Marche basin of eastern Italy in search of the fossilised remains of deep-ocean creatures called agglutinated foraminifera. These amoeba-like single-celled organisms build protective "tests" around themselves by sticking together sediment grains from the sea floor. Curiously, they seem to prefer heavy grains, presumably to help them sink to the bottom of the ocean. ...
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg19826553.500-sea-creatures-had-a-thing-for-bling.html%22

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