Video Animation of CT Scan Progression

This video is a three-dimensional representation of a calcium carbonate block that was deployed on a Kāneʻohe Bay reef for one year. Using micro-computed tomography, or microCT, we can visualize the inside and outside of solid objects at resolutions that are smaller than the thickness of a piece of hair. Here, you can very clearly see erosion scars from boring worms on the inside of the block and scrapes from grazing parrot fish on the outside of the block. Using this technology, we are able to very accurately quantify how much calcium carbonate was removed from the block by bioeroders as well as the amount growth by encrusting algae and other calcifiers that have accumulated on the block over time.