1. Academic use

Radiocarbon dating of shells

2. Commercial use

Crafts

Shells of clams and other shelled animals. Some of them have a pearl-like iridescent luster, so they are used in the jewelry industry to make necklaces, costume jewelry (buttons, etc.), or even installed on jewelry. They are more often used to make shell carvings, collages, inlaid knife handles, etc.

Tableware

Make a set of tableware out of shells. Forks and spoons each have their own uses.

Currency

In ancient times, shells also served as coins.

Extended information:

Types of shells

1. The number, shape and structure of shells vary greatly, and some species have a spiral shell. Shells (such as snails, snails, abalone); some species have 2 petal-shaped shells (such as clams, clams, scallops); some species have 8 plate-shaped shells arranged in an imbricate shape (such as chitons); some In some species, a piece of shell is enclosed in the body (such as squid, calamari); in some species, the shell even completely degenerates (such as shipworm).

2. The main components of shells are 95% calcium carbonate and a small amount of chitin.

Generally, it can be divided into 3 layers. The outermost layer is the dark brown cuticle (shell skin), which is thin and transparent, has the function of preventing carbonic acid erosion, and is composed of chitin secreted from the edge of the mantle;

The middle layer is the prismatic layer (shell layer), which is thicker and composed of prismatic calcite secreted from the edge of the mantle. The outer and middle layers can expand the area of ??the shell but do not increase the thickness;

The inner layer is the nacre (bottom layer), which is composed of leaf-like aragonite (aragonite) secreted across the entire surface of the mantle. It has a beautiful luster and can thicken as the body grows.

Reference: Baidu Encyclopedia-Shell