Abstract
We report here the discovery of giant lithified subtidal columnar stromatolites (>2 m high) growing in 7–8 m of clear oceanic water in current-swept channels between the Exuma Islands on the eastern Bahama Bank. They grow by trapping ooid and pelletal carbonate sand and synsedimentary precipitation of carbonate cement within a field of giant megaripples. The discovery is important to geologists and biologists because similar organo-sedimentary structures built by a combination of cementation and the trapping of sediment by microbes were the dominant fossil types during the Precambrian. Stromatolites are thought to have been responsible for the production of free oxygen and thus the evolution of animal life1,2. Until the discovery of small lithified subtidal columnar stromatolites in the Bahamas3, the only subtidal marine examples known to be living while undergoing lithification were in the hypersaline waters of Hamelin Pool at Shark Bay, Western Australia4–7. Shark Bay stromatolites range from intertidal to the shallow subtidal with the larger columns reaching 1 m in height. The Shark Bay stromatolites have strongly influenced geological interpretation; by analogy, many ancient stromatolites have been considered to have grown in intertidal and/or hypersaline conditions8, although hypersalinity was not a necessity for growth during the Precambrian because grazing metazoan life had not then evolved.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Rutten, M. G. The Geological Aspects of the Origin of Life on Earth ((Elsevier, Brussels, 1962).
Berkner, L. V. & Marshall, L. C. in The Origin and Evolution of Atmospheres and Oceans (eds Brancazio, P. J. & Cameron, A. G. W.) 102–126 (Wiley, New York, 1964).
Dravis, J. J. Science 219, 385–386 (1983).
Logan, B. W. J. Geol. 69, 517–533 (1961).
Logan, B. W., Rezak, R. & Ginsburg, R. N. J. Geol. 72, 68–83 (1964).
Playford, P. E. Western Aust. Geol. Survey A. Rep. 1979 73–77 (1980).
Awramik, S. M. & Vanyo, J. P. Science 231, 1279–1281 (1986).
Monty, C. in Fossil Algae, Recent Results and Developments (ed. Flügel, E.) 15–35 (Springer, Berlin, 1977).
Illing, L. V. Am. Ass. Petrol. Geol. Bull. 38, 1–95 (1954).
Ball, M. M. J. Sedim. Petrol. 37, 556–591 (1967).
Taft, W. H., Arrington, F., Haimoritz, A. ., MacDonald, C. & Woolheater, C. Bull. Mar. Sci. Gulf Caribbean 18, 762–828 (1968).
Burne, R. V. & James, N. P. 12th IAS Congr. Canberra (in the press).
Shinn, E. A. Sedimentology 12, 109–144 (1969).
Ginsburg, R. N. & James, N. P. Geology 4, 431–436 (1976).
Dravis, J. J. J. Sedim. Petrol. 49, 0195–0208 (1979).
Ginsburg, R. N. Proc. int. Geol. Cong. XXI, Norden 1960 pt XXII (Copenhagen) 26–35 (1960).
Gebelein, C. D. J. Sedim. Petrol. 39, 49–69 (1969).
Playford, P. E. & Cockbain, A. E. Science 165, 1008–1010 (1969).
Hoffman, P. E. Am. Ass. Petrol. Geol. Bull. 58, 856–867 (1974).
Cloud, P. E. Am. J. Sci. 240, 363–379 (1942).
Walter, M. R. Spec. Pap. Palaeontol. No. 11 1–190 (Palaeontological Association of London, 1972).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Dill, R., Shinn, E., Jones, A. et al. Giant subtidal stromatolites forming in normal salinity waters. Nature 324, 55–58 (1986). https://doi.org/10.1038/324055a0
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/324055a0
- Springer Nature Limited
This article is cited by
-
Eocene lacustrine microbialites in the western Qaidam Basin, China: implication for the sedimentary record and hydrocarbon potential
Carbonates and Evaporites (2024)
-
Bryoherms from the lower Sarmatian (upper Serravallian, Middle Miocene) of the Central Paratethys
Facies (2023)
-
Earthquake-induced soft sediment deformation (SSD) structures from the Bilara limestone formation, Marwar basin, India
Journal of Earth System Science (2019)
-
Microbialite elongation by means of coalescence: an example from the middle Furongian (upper Cambrian) Notch Peak Formation of western Utah
Facies (2016)
-
Inner workings of thrombolites: spatial gradients of metabolic activity as revealed by metatranscriptome profiling
Scientific Reports (2015)