SCIENCEscience.org 15 APRIL 2022¥VOL 376 ISSUE 6590 315
Fig. 3. Morphological“timeline”of coccolith crystal growth shows evolu-
tion of anisotropy with conserved {104} facets.(AandB) 3D volume
rendering of crystals from five developmental stages indicated as i. to v. (color
gradient denotes developmental sequence). The units are viewed tangentially to
the coccolith ring to emphasize the {104} habit, and they show the transition
from isotropic to anisotropic morphologies. Gray discs represent the schematic
location of the base plate. Scale bars, 100 nm. (C) Four interlocked crystal units
from the same data sets. The crystals are viewed from outside the coccolith
perimeter, and sizes are not to scale. (DandE) An early-stage R-unit (D) and a
mature V-unit (E) at four different views: down theircaxes (upper left of both
panels), and face-on to each of the facets joining at thec-axis apex. These
perspectives highlight the initial isotropic habit, mostly disturbed by the
interlocking of the crystals, which transforms to an anisotropic habit that is still
dominated by the same facets. Dihedral angles between facets (continuous lines)
and angles between edges (dashed lines) are indicated. Red arrows denote
directions ofcaxes.RESEARCH | REPORTS