Changes in ocean chemistry that favoured the precipitation of aragonite or calcite are thought to have influenced the skeletal mineralogy of marine calcifyers. An investigation of the original skeletal mineralogy of large numbers of marine taxa suggests that the selective recovery of marine organisms from mass extinctions has a much greater influence on the overall percentage of aragonitic organisms than the Mg/Ca ratio of the oceans.
- Wolfgang Kiessling
- Martin Aberhan
- Loïc Villier
