I am deeply indebted with Jim Natland (Miami, Florida, USA) for giving me many hints during the writing of this manuscript. In particular, most of the discussion about the origin of myrmekites comes from his ideas. Detailed reviews of Mike R. Perfit (Gainesville, Florida, USA) and Fred Frey (Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA) greatly improved the quality and readability of this paper. Many thanks also to Isabella Premoli Silva (Milan, Italy) and Piera Spadea (Trieste, Italy) for the opportunity to participate in the ODP cruise and Marcello Serracino for his skilled assistance during EMP analyses. I also want to warmly thank Enrica, Bianca, and Laura for their support during the writing of this manuscript.
This research used samples and/or data provided by the Ocean Drilling Program (ODP). ODP is sponsored by the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) and participating countries under management of Joint Oceanographic Institutions (JOI), Inc.