Synchrotron-Based HR-Fluorescence and Mineralogical Mapping of the Initial Growth Stages of Polynesian Cultivated Pearls Disprove the ‘Reversed Shell’ Concept

Abstract

In a series of Polynesian pearls collected after short cultivation periods, early post-grafting mineral deposits were characterized by high resolution synchrotron-based X-ray fluorescence with unprecedented accuracy. Morphological patterns and elemental composition are correlated through simultaneous imaging processes. Evidence that aragonite and calcite occur in neighboring units during the earliest biomineralization stages reveals that the grafting process can result in a greater degradation than usually admitted in the widely shared ‘reversed shell’ concept. Compared with ultrastructure of the pristine nacreous tablets, this method enables a precise evaluation of the possible biological changes in the biomineralization mechanism during grafting.