The Wonderful World of Diatoms
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What are Diatoms?
Diatoms are tiny, usually single-celled organisms that live in water. Diatoms are very important to our world and most people don't even know they exist. There are saltwater and freshwater varieties, but all are extremely beautiful and interesting.
Picture from Stinging Eyes
Picture from Stinging Eyes
Diatom Shells
Living in a House of Glass
Diatoms form shells or walls, called frustules, around themselves out of silica, so it's almost like their frustules are made of glass or quartz. These frustules can be extremely ornate and have many spikes and designs, if the diatoms weren't so tiny, they would probably be killed off by all the people wanting to hang them on their walls. The shells really are works of art. The Importance of Diatoms
Although these tiny organisms may seem beautiful but useless at first glance, they are an incredibly important part of the world's ecosystem. Diatoms photosynthesize and produce much of the world's oxygen. A lot of our fossil fuels have also come from diatoms.
Pennate Diatom in Valve View
Diatoms and Global Warming
Diatoms sequester excess carbon by using it in their shells and then dying and falling to the ocean floor, where they then may become rock. It's thought they may be key to slowing or reversing global warming due to this. Many scientists are pondering the idea of seeding the seas with iron, which is difficult to come by in the ocean and needed for diatom reproduction. This may increase the numbers of diatoms and they could then sequester even more carbon dioxide. This idea has its doubters. Since we don't know nearly enough about our oceans as we'd like, it is possible that seeding the oceans wouldn't work or would cause unexpected problems.
Quick Fact
Diatoms live in both salt and freshwater, and some can even live in damp places
Plankton
Diatoms are the principal constituent of plankton
Two Diatoms and an Oscillatoria
A marine sample showing a couple of oval or plumb-bob shaped diatoms, a long Oscillatoria green, with several small flagellates flitting around.
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Quick Fact
A marine variety of diatom called Coscinodiscus, is just barely visible without a microscope
Books about Diatoms
Gyrosigma Type of Diatom
Learn More about Diatoms
Naviculoid Diatoms
Pennate diatom in valve view
Diatoms
Filamentous diatoms may be Melosira sp.
Quick Fact
Diatoms are really useful in carbon dating sag ponds, ponds created by fault movements
Nature's Art
Diatom Wear
Show off your love for these important little organisms by wearing a shirt.
Important!
Foam on the Waves
Have you ever gone to the beach and seen wave foam that looked dirty? The yellow foam you sometimes see on waves is not from some oil spill or pollution. It's actually caused by diatoms getting broken open. Since each diatom has a tiny drop of oil inside it, when they get broken apart by a storm, that oil comes out and floats on top of the waves.
Intertidal Algae
Beautiful Diatoms
Blogs Mentioning Diatoms
- The Health and Productivity of Diatoms in Acidified Seawater
- The authors state that diatoms are very important for the productivity of the world's oceans, as they contribute about 45% of global marine primary production (Mann, 1999); and they therefore say it is essential to understand how diatoms and other ...
- Sentinel High students' science work wins trip to national contest
- Their project compared the number of nitrogen-related diatoms, which help algae grow, between the Upper Clark Fork and Bitterroot rivers and Lolo Creek. Williams said the microorganisms are an indication of water quality, and they produce necessary ...
- Climate Change Threatens Crucial Marine Algae
- Researchers were surprised to discover that diatoms, one of the most important and abundant types of phytoplankton, fared very badly during shipboard experiments conducted by co-author Kunshan Gao, from the State Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental ...
- Carbon Nanoparticles could be Ubiquitous to Many Foods
- For instance a number of simple organisms such as bacteria and diatoms have the capacity to produce nanoparticles, either as part of their natural behavior or under specific conditions. Nanoscale minerals, it seems, play an important role in shaping ...
Even More Beautiful Diatoms
Diatoms and Oxygen
Diatoms make their own food through photosynthesis. These tiny organisms also manage to produce a lot of oxygen as a byproduct of photosynthesizing. Numbers vary, but many people believe that diatoms account for 20-33 percent of the oxygen produced in the world today. That's more than the rainforests. Ocean health is extremely important, not just for our joy in it, but also to keep breathing.
For More Information on Diatoms
- Diatoms
- This site has a few nice pictures of diatoms and an easy to understand description
- Antarctic Freshwater Diatoms
- Diatom samples in the polar regions tell us a lot about what has happened and is happening there
- CalAcademy Diatom Page
- The California Academy of Sciences has a great in depth look at diatoms in general
- Geoscience World article on Seismology
- Diatom evidence for earthquake-induced subsidence and tsunami 300 yr ago in southern coastal Washington
- Introduction to Algae
- Lots of information on algae and details about it
- Understanding Environmental History One Diatom at a Time
- Researcher Sherri Cooper studies Paleoecology and uses diatoms to do so
- Microbial Life on Paleoclimatology
- Learning about the climate of the world in the past depends on several things, including diatoms.
- Sceince Daily on Diatoms and Global Wamring
- Diatoms sequester carbon dioxide and so help prevent global warming
- Genome Of Diatom Reveals Clues About Trapping Excess Ocean Carbon
- Understanding the way diatoms work may help us fix some of the overdose of carbon dioxide that is causing global warming. Also has a nice description of what diatoms are.
- Bio-Medicine Article on Diatoms
- Living in a glass house: Ocean organism's novel dwelling helps Earth's atmosphere
- College of Ocean and Fishery Sciences, University of Washington
- Exploring the Wonders of the Tiny Diatom
- List of Available Genera
- List of available species within each Genera and pictures of many of them
- Water Facts from the Water and Rivers Commission
- A long PDF about algae blooms and their causes as well as their effects on waterways
- FRESHWATER DIATOM IDENTIFICATION AND INFORMATION RESOURCE
- CalAcademy's pictures and description of freshwater diatoms that have so far been cataloged
- International Society for Diatom Research
- Official site for the International Society of Diatom Research
- BGSU Center for Algal Microscopy Image Archive
- Links to diatom images
- Tracing Oil Reserves to Their Tiny Origins by the New York Times
- An article about dinosaurs and diatoms and where our oil actually came from.
Diatoms on Twitter
Diatom Creations
Important!
Diatoms, Diatomite, or Diatomaceous Earth?
Diatoms are the organisms. When they die, their shells can fossilize and turn into rock, called diatomite. If that diatomite is ground up it is called diatomaceous earth.
Diatomite Mine
Diatomite is Super Light
Processing Facility for Diatomite
Diatoms Role in the Rock Cycle
Diatoms have a great part in the rock cycle too. Silicon is one of the most common elements and so many rocks, including granite and obsidian, have a high percentage of their makeup being silicon. When the rocks weather and erode, little pieces of them get into the water cycle, where they eventually wind up in the ocean. As they dissolve they produce silicic acid which the diatoms then use to build their cell walls.The diatoms live for a while and then when they die, their frustules fall to the bottom of the ocean, where they pile up over time and create "diatomaceous ooze". Eventually, as more and more shells build up, the pressure on the ooze presses it into a rock called diatomite. The picture to the right is of pieces of diatomite.
The rock can stay down there for millions of years, but eventually it may be pulled deep under a continent by plate tectonics, where it will melt and rise up through the continental plate and eventually cool into granite. Over millions of years, the granite weathers down and makes it to the ocean and then the silicon is taken in by the diatoms to make shells and then, well, you get the point. This is one example, but similar things are happening all over the world all the time.
A Pile of Diatomaceous Earth
Buy Diatomaceous Earth Now
Diatomaceous Earth on Squidoo
Diatomaceous Earth is actually fossilized diatoms and is something you probably use everyday without even realizing it.
All Different Shapes and Sizes of Diatoms
Look for Diatoms on Amazon
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Reader Feedback
What do you think of diatoms? Think they're beautiful little creatures and perhaps part of the solution to global climate change or useless amoebas?
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Miska29
Mar 20, 2012 @ 3:46 pm | delete
- Nice lens!
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LewesDE
Feb 17, 2012 @ 8:48 pm | delete
- Love this lens!
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BevsPaper
Aug 2, 2009 @ 10:22 am | delete
- I found this very interesting! I had never heard of these little critters before.
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MeltedRachel
Jun 1, 2009 @ 2:16 am | delete
- 5* and lensrolled to Cell Structure Textiles.
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thesquirrelymom
Feb 25, 2009 @ 6:59 pm | delete
- I clicked on this thinking "What is a diatom? It sounds familiar." Then when I saw a picture, I remember where I heard of them recently. Watching an episode of Forensic Files. LOL. Great lens.
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crystalguy
Jan 28, 2009 @ 10:05 pm | delete
- Really liked your information and the pictures of the 'critters' and mines. It all makes you realize that rocks aren't just 'rocks' when you get to know them. Five Stars!
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AlishaV
Jan 27, 2009 @ 6:31 am | delete
- Thanks Clora!
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Clora Teel
Jan 26, 2009 @ 9:04 pm | delete
- Love this lens. Everything Alisha does is great. Learning about the different minerals and the formations of land mass is such a massive undertaking that at my age I get to feeling like it would take a thousand lifetimes to even start to understand it let alone retain it in your mind.
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I love the natural world. There's so much that is absolutely fascinating, tiny organisms, rocks made of skeletons, plants and animals, that I especial... more »
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Diatoms: Life in Glass Houses
Diatoms: Life in Glass Houses
Amazon Price: $83.91 (as of 05/31/2012)
