Tooth enamel Tooth enamel Tooth enamel is one of the four major tissues that make up the tooth in humans and many other animals, including some species of fish. It makes up the normally visible part of the tooth, covering the crown. The other major tissues are dentin, cementum, and dental pulp. It is a very hard, white to off-white, highly mineralised substance that acts as a barrier to protect the tooth but can become susceptible to degradation, especially by acids from food and drink. Enamel is the hardest substance in the human body and contains the highest percentage of minerals, 96%,
Active layer in permafrost regions due to the low rate of weathering in the very cold climate. The slow rate of decomposition of organic material means gelisols (permafrost soils) are very important as a sink for carbon dioxide. This carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases (chiefly methane) forms from the very slow decomposition of the excess organic matter that remains in most gelisols and is mixed down into the pereletok layer during relatively hot summers and below that layer during warmer periods about 5000 to 6000 years ago. This storage of carbon means thawing of permafrost may accelerate global warming - some