Aegagropiles are round-shaped conglomerations of Posidonia oceanica debris commonly found along the coasts of the Mediterranean Sea. This study presents a detailed description of the composition of aegagropiles in terms of their internal organisation in different layers (and the orientation of the fibres in these layers), the proportion of constituent elements (fibres and minerals) and the histological (by way of microscopic observations) nature of all of these aegagropiles elements. The aim of this work is to take a detailed interest in the structure of the aegagropiles of Posidonia oceanica and to determine the process that forms them. Aegagropiles are an assemblage of two types of debris from the P. oceanica meadow: (1) plant-based: fibres more or less degraded from P. oceanica shoots (leaves and rhizomes) and (2) mineral particles such as silicates and biotic Ca-carbonate debris. On the basis of structural and compositional observations, we proposed an elucidation of the cycle in several phases: initiation of a “roll” by aggregation of litter fibres and sand in the ripple marks, growth, breakdown of the roll into small balls (microbial and mechanical degradation) and export of aegagropiles down (into the abyss) or on to the beaches. Calculations estimate that considering its density of 0.2 g/cm³, an aegagropile represents the accumulation of fibres from approximately 25 shoots of P. oceanica.

Aegagropiles是在地中海沿岸常见的波西多尼亚大洋洲碎片的圆形聚集体。这项研究从不同层的内部组织（以及这些层中纤维的方向），组成元素（纤维和矿物质）的比例以及组织学（通过显微镜观察）的角度，详细描述了土壤杆菌的组成。观察）所有这些aegagropiles元素的性质。这项工作的目的是采取的aegagropiles的结构的详细兴趣Posidonia大洋洲和确定的过程，形式他们。Aegagropiles是两种来自P. oceanica的碎片的集合草甸：（1）植物基：纤维从海洋假单胞菌的茎（叶和根茎）中或多或少地降解，以及（2）矿物颗粒，例如硅酸盐和生物碳酸钙碎片。根据结构和组成的观察结果，我们提出了以下几个阶段的循环说明：通过将杂乱纤维和沙子聚集在波纹痕迹中而引发的“辊”开始，生长，将辊分解为小球（微生物和机械降解），并向下游（到深渊）或沙滩上出口。计算估计，考虑到其密度为0.2 g / cm ³，aegagropile代表了大约25个海洋大竹笋的纤维积累。