Stromatolites through time: archives of microbe-sediment interaction
|
Stromatolites record evidence of microbial interaction with sedimentary environments through the geological record. Their laminated macroscopic architecture, microfabrics and geochemistry are an archive of evolving microbial, physical, and chemical processes. To interpret the fossil record of stromatolites and to test the biogenicity of some of the oldest examples requires that we can disentangle the contribution of microbial processes from changing physical and chemical environments. In this session we welcome experimental studies of microbe-sediment interaction, also microbiological and geochemical investigations of recent microbial mats. In addition field based studies of ancient stromatolites, their morphology, fabrics and geochemistry are invited from across the geological record. We aim to discuss recent developments in understanding biological processes in microbialite growth.
|
Nicola McLoughlin, Vicky Petryshyn and Russell Shapiro
|