See more from this Division: Topical Sessions
See more from this Session: Microbialites: A 3.5-Billion-Year Record of Microbe-Sediment Interactions
Abstract:
Wrinkle structures, mat chips, and roll-up structures are most commonly found. Examples stem from the Ordovician of the Montagne Noire, France, the Neoproterozoic of the Nama Group, Namibia, as well as from various Archean locations. A unique assemblage of a multitude of exceptionally preserved MISS can be found in the 2.9-Ga-old Pongola Supergroup, South Africa. The Nhlazatse Section' includes erosional remnants and pockets', multidirected ripple marks', polygonal oscillation cracks', gas domes', and many more. The structures record 4 different mat facies, each one is typical for a specific tidal zone. The microbial mat structures are preserved in situ, and are consistent with the MISS constructed today by benthic cyanobacteria. Possibly we can conclude that benthic cyanobacteria have been highly diverse already that time, and could have originated much earlier.
See more from this Division: Topical Sessions
See more from this Session: Microbialites: A 3.5-Billion-Year Record of Microbe-Sediment Interactions