Encyclopedia of Astrobiology

2011 Edition
| Editors: Muriel Gargaud, Ricardo Amils, José Cernicharo Quintanilla, Henderson James (Jim) CleavesII, William M. Irvine, Daniele L. Pinti, Michel Viso

Stromatolites

Reference work entry
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-11274-4_1528
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Synonyms

 Fossilized microbial mats;  Living Stromatolites;  Microbialites;  Modern Stromatolites

Keywords

Laminated sedimentary structures,  microbial mats

Definition

Stromatolites are morphologically circumscribed accretionary growth structures with a primary lamination that is, or may be, biogenic. They form centimeter- to decimeter-scale domes, cones, columns, and planiform surfaces made of carbonate layers. Stromatolites accrete through a combination of microbially mediated sediment trapping-and-binding and by the precipitation of carbonate crusts that may be due to microbial mat growth and\or be purely  abiotic in origin. Stromatolites provide the oldest macrofossil evidence of  life on earth and host many important  microfossil occurrences. Images of macroscopically layered stromatolites obtained by rovers on other planetary surfaces may yet provide some of the first evidence of life beyond earth.

History

The term “stromatolith” was first used just over a century ago by...

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References and Further Reading

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Copyright information

© Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2011

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.Department for Earth Science and Centre for GeobiologyUniversity of BergenBergenNorway