ARAGONITE TO CALCITE TRANSFORMATION STUDY BY XRD AND ESR STUDIES OF Mn2+ IN FRESHWATER SNAIL SHELLS: P. CANALICULATA LAMARCK

Electron spin resonance spectroscopy (ESR) was used to study the Mn 2+ ions in snails of P. canaliculata lamarck (PCL). All these shells are abundant in Thailand. Fractions of aragonite and calcite phase in the shells have been approximately determined by ESR. The PCL shell was ground into fine powders and then four samples were separately annealed for 2 h in air at 400°C, 450°C, 500°C and 600°C, respectively. The phase transition from aragonite to calcite was monitored by X-ray diffractometer (XRD) and electron spin resonance spectrometer (ESR). Our results show that unheated PCL sample is mainly made of aragonite with only a small fraction of calcite. Annealing of the PCL powder sample at the temperature more than 450°C has resulted in the irreversible phase transformation from aragonite to calcite. The analysis of their ESR spectra has shown that Mn 2+ ions partially substituted Ca 2+ in the lattices. Finally, the spin Hamiltonian parameters for Mn 2+ distributed in both aragonite and calcite were evaluated. Our detailed ESR spectral analyses of PCL show that Mn 2+ ions enter Ca 2+ sites during a biomineralization process. Typical simulated ESR parameters of PCL-500 of Mn 2+ at a uniaxial site of calcite are gx=gy=2.078(1), gz=1.999(1), Ax=Ay=87.0 G, Az=89.00 G and D=115 G, respectively. It is thus possible to gain some insight of manganese incorporation into the fresh water shells during the biomineralization process.