Experimental dissolution of Globigerinoides ruber, Globigerinoides trilobus, Globorotalia menardii, and Orbulina universa from core top sediments in the Caribbean Sea are being conducted by reaction with a sodium acetate-acetic buffer solution of pH 6.1 at atmospheric pressure and room temperature. Preliminary results suggest that the foraminifera tests are attacked by the solution primarily from the outside surface such that layers of calcite are successively destroyed. SEM micrographs of successively “stripped” layers indicate that a finely crystalline, smooth layer forms the outer shell and that a more coarsely crystalline layer underlies this surface layer. Ca/Mg analysis of...