Coccolithophores (coccolithophorids ) are a group of unicellular, marine, planktonic algae belonging to the haptophytes (Prymnesiophyta). The coccolithophores are capable of controlling the intracellular precipitation of calcite onto organic plates and the assembly of the mature carbonate scales at the cell surface. These scales, the coccoliths , are spherical or oval, often intricately patterned and generally less than 20 μm in diameter. Given the abundance of coccoliths in sediments, coccolithophorids have been playing a major role in the global carbon budget. They were very abundant in the Mesozoic era, particularly in the Cretaceous period, in which they became a major component of the “Chalk ” lithology (e.g., White Cliffs of Dover, England). Today, coccolithophorids are accounting for about a third of the total marine CaCO3production, and coccoliths are a major component of the modern deep-sea calcareous oozes . The most widespread modern species is...
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Thiel, V. (2011). Coccolithophores. In: Reitner, J., Thiel, V. (eds) Encyclopedia of Geobiology. Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-9212-1_57
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