Stromatolites (eBook)

Front Cover 1
Stromatolites 4
Copyright Page 5
Contents 10
List of Contributors 6
PART 1: INTRODUCTION 14
PART 2: METHODOLOGY AND SYSTEMATICS 18
Chapter 2.1. Basic field and laboratory methods for the study of stromatolites 18
Chapter 2.2. Graphic representation of fossil stromatoids new method with improved precision
Chapter 2.3. Biological techniques for the study of microbial mats and living stromatolites 34
Chapter 2.4. Approaches to the classification of stromatolites 44
Chapter 2.5. Stromatoid morphometrics 58
PART 3: ABIOGENIC STROMATOLITE-LIKE STRUCTURES 68
Chapter 3.1. Calcretes and their distinction from stromatolites 68
Chapter 3.2. Speleothems 86
Chapter 3.3. Geyserites of Yellowstone National Park: an example of abiogenic “stromatolites” 100
PART 4: BIOLOGY OF STROMATOLITES 126
Chapter 4.1. Organisms that build stromatolites 126
Chapter 4.2. Taxonomy of extant stromatolite-building cyanophytes 140
Chapter 4.3. Environmental microbiology of living stromatolites 154
Chapter 4.4. Evolutionary processes in the formation of stromatolites 162
Chapter 4.5. Biochemical markers in stromatolites 176
PART 5: FABRIC AND MICROSTRUCTURE 206
Chapter 5.1. The origin and development of cryptalgal fabrics 206
Chapter 5.2. An attempt to classify Late Precambrian stromatolite microstructures 264
PART 6: MORPHOGENESIS 274
Chapter 6.1. Stromatolite morphogenesis in Shark Bay, Western Australia 274
Chapter 6.2. Microbiology and morphogenesis of columnar stromatolites (Conophyton, Vacerrillo) from hot springs in Yellowstone National Park 286
Chapter 6.3. Gunflint stromatolites : microfossil distribution in relation to stromatolite morphology 324
Chapter 6.4. Biotic and abiotic factors controlling the morphology of Riphean stromatolites 334
PART 7: STROMATOLITE BIOSTRATIGRAPHY 350
Chapter 7.1. Experience in stromatolite studies in the U.S.S.R. 350
Chapter 7.2. Intercontinental correlations 367
Chapter 7.3. Aphebian stromatolites in Canada: implications for stromatolite zonation 379
PART 8: RECENT MODELS FOR INTERPRETING STROMATOLITE ENVIRONMENTS 389
Chapter 8.1. Open marine subtidal and intertidal stromatolites 389
Chapter 8.2. Modern algal stromatolites at Hamelin Pool, a hypersaline barred basin in Shark Bay, Western Australia 397
Chapter 8.3. Stratigraphy of stromatolite occurrences in carbonate lakes of the Coorong Lagoon area, South Australia 421
Chapter 8.4. Algal belt and coastal sabkha evolution, Trucial Coast, Persian Gulf 429
Chapter 8.5. Textural variation within Great Salt Lake algal mounds 443
Chapter 8.6. The geological significance of the freshwater blue-green algal calcareous marsh 455
Chapter 8.7. Freshwater stromatolitic bioherms in Green Lake, New York 487
Chapter 8.8. Hot-spring sediments in Yellowstone National Park 497
PART 9: APPLICATION OF RECENT MODELS TO THE GEOLOGICAL RECORD 507
Chapter 9.1. The effects of the physical, chemical and biological evolution of the earth 507
PART 10: STROMATOLITES IN BASIN ANALYSIS 525
Chapter 10.1. Use of stromatolites for intrabasinal correlation: example from the Late Proterozoic of the northwestern margin of the Taoudenni Basin 525
Chapter 10.2. Paleoecology of Conophyton and associated stromatolites in the Precambrian Dismal Lakes and Rae Groups, Canada 531
Chapter 10.3. Lacustrine stromatolites, Eocene Green River Formation, Wyoming 543
Chapter 10.4. Devonian stromatolites from the Canning Basin, Western Australia 551
Chapter 10.5. Lower Cambrian stromatolites from open and sheltered intertidal environments, Wirrealpa, South Australia 573
Chapter 10.6. Stromatolites from the Middle Proterozoic Altyn Limestone, Belt Supergroup, Glacier National Park, Montana 590
Chapter 10.7. Environmental diversity of Middle Precambrian stromatolites 604
Chapter 10.8. Distribution of stromatolites in Riphean deposits of the Uchur–Maya region of Siberia 618
Chapter 10.9. Palaeoenvironmental and geochemical models from an Early Proterozoic carbonate succession in South Africa 635
PART 11: MINERALIZATION ASSOCIATED WITH STROMATOLITES 645
Chapter 11.1. Mineral deposits associated with stromatolites 645
Chapter 11.2. Biological processes and mineral deposition 663
PART 12: CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE HISTORY OF THE EARTH–MOON SYSTEM 673
Chapter 12.1. Geophysical inferences from stromatolite lamination 673
APPENDICES 687
Appendix I. Glossary of selected terms 687
Appendix II. Table of time-ranges of the principal groups of Precambrian stromatolites 693
Appendix III. List of available translations of major works on stromatolites 695
Appendix IV. Selective subject index to the Bibliography 697
BIBLIOGRAPHY 705
INDEX 773