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Carbon Isotopes and Microbial Sediments

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Microbial Sediments

Abstract

Microbial sediments of the biolaminated type, generated by the matting behavior of preferentially prokaryotic microbenthos, commonly carry the isotopic signatures of both the primary microbial biomass and of the carbonate of the surrounding sediment matrix. This is true for present-day stromatolites as well as for their fossil counterparts, which can preserve these signatures with a minor diagenetic overprint for billions of years. While the isotopic composition of the organic (kerogenous) carbon fraction may reflect the intrinsic fractionations of the microbial primary producers as well as several other parameters (productivity, temperature, salinity), the δ13C and δ18O labels, specifically of sub-Recent laminated stromatolitic carbonates, have encoded a wealth of palaeohydrological and palaeotemperature information which makes them important stores of palaeoclimatological data. Altogether, the stromatolitic carbon isotope record constitutes an exuberant archive of biogeochemical and palaeoenvironmental evolution that still awaits further evaluation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Abt. Biogeochemie, Max-Planck-Institut für Chemie (Otto-Hahn-Institut), Postfach 3060, D-55020, Mainz, Germany

    Manfred Schidlowski

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  1. Manfred Schidlowski
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Earth Sciences, Cardiff University, CF10 3YE, Cardiff, Wales, UK

    Robert E. Riding

  2. Department of Geological Sciences, University of California, 93106, Santa Barbara, CA, USA

    Stanley M. Awramik

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Schidlowski, M. (2000). Carbon Isotopes and Microbial Sediments. In: Riding, R.E., Awramik, S.M. (eds) Microbial Sediments. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-04036-2_11

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-04036-2_11

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