See more from this Division: Topical Sessions
See more from this Session: Microbialites: A 3.5-Billion-Year Record of Microbe-Sediment Interactions
Abstract:
The genesis of hot spring microbialites can be viewed as a scale-integrated process, whereby cells and exopolymers provide low activation energy surfaces for the initial nucleation and growth of minerals. Variations in patterns of microbial growth and taxis provide morphological templates that control subsequent mineral growth. This is expressed at higher levels of integration in the production of distinctive microbialite morphotypes. In terrestrial hot springs, systematic variations in microbial community composition along environmental gradients are mirrored by systematic variations in microbialite form and microstructure in associated sinters, thereby creating a record of the geobiology and environmental context of the original system. Sedimentary biofacies may be defined as characteristic associations of biological features that reflect certain types of organism-environment interactions and processes. In this talk, I will review microbialite-based biofacies models developed for travertine and siliceous hot springs in Yellowstone National Park and New Zealand and their applications in paleoenvironmental studies of some closely related ancient analogs.
See more from this Division: Topical Sessions
See more from this Session: Microbialites: A 3.5-Billion-Year Record of Microbe-Sediment Interactions