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Scanning electron micrographs of typical components of the particle flux material collected by the 3,200 meter Oceanic Flux Program trap. (A) A calcite shell of a foraminifer (a one-celled animal) with secondary calcite encrustations. The species composition and carbon and oxygen isotopic ratios of foraminifera shells preserved in ocean sediments are extensively used by paleoceanographers to reconstruct the past ocean environment. (B) A siliceous test of a radiolarian, another one-celled animal. (C) A zooplankton fecal pellet (left) and an unidentified biological aggregate. (D) Assorted skeletal remains of cocco-lithophorids, diatoms, dinoflagellates, and amorphous organic material aggregated inside the elongated fecal pellet shown in C. The elaborate round structures are individual calcite plates (liths) from different cocco-lithophore species.[back]
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