Nacreous Nautilus Shell, Sem #9
by Eye Of Science
Title
Nacreous Nautilus Shell, Sem #9
Artist
Eye Of Science
Medium
Photograph - Photograph
Description
Scanning electron micrograph (SEM) of the broken shell of a nautilus. The typical layer structure of mother-of-pearl can be seen in the lower part of the picture. The acicular crystals in the top half grew in a disused chamber inside the shell. Nacre (mother-of-pearl) has long been known as an interesting biogenic material. It is composed of hexagonal platelets of aragonite (a form of calcium carbonate) 10–20 µm wide and 0.5 µm thick arranged in a continuous parallel lamina. These layers are separated by sheets of organic matrix composed of elastic biopolymers (such as chitin, lustrin and silk-like proteins). This mixture of brittle platelets and the thin layers of elastic biopolymers makes the material strong and resilient. Nacre appears iridescent because the thickness of the aragonite platelets is close to the wavelength of visible light. Magnification is 2000x at 12x15cm image size.
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May 19th, 2021
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