|
The sea, the waves, their sound and the reflection of the sunset on the shells.
Nacre is secreted by the epithelial cells of the mantle tissue of certain species of mollusk. In these mollusks nacre is continually deposited onto the inner surface of the animal's shell (the iridescent nacreous layer; commonly known as mother of pearl), it serves as a means to smooth the shell itself and as a defense against parasitic organisms and damaging detritus.
The iridescent appearance of the nacre is due to the fact that the thicknesses of the aragonite platelets are about 0.5 micrometers, which is comparable to the wavelength of visible light. This results in constructive and destructive interference of different wavelengths of light, resulting in different colors of light being reflected at different viewing angles.
|
View Cart
