Stromatolite (redirected from Stromatolites)

stromatolite

Layered deposit, mainly of limestone, formed by the growth of blue-green algae (see cyanobacteria). These structures are usually characterized by thin, alternating light and dark layers that may be flat, hummocky, or dome-shaped. Stromatolites were common in Precambrian time (more than 543 million years ago). Some of the first forms of life on Earth are recorded in stromatolites in rocks 3.5 billion years old. Stromatolites continue to form in certain areas today, most abundantly in Shark Bay in western Australia.

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stromatolite [strə′mad·əl‚īt]

(geology)

A structure in calcareous rocks consisting of concentrically laminated masses of calcium carbonate and calcium-magnesium carbonate which are believed to be of calcareous algal origin; these structures are irregular to columnar and hemispheroidal in shape, and range from 1 millimeter to many meters in thickness. Also known as callenia.

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Stromatolite 

a dense, layered structure that forms in limestones and dolomites as a result of the presence of colonies of blue-green and other algae. Stromatolites reach several meters in length and 1–2 m in height. They have been traced back to the Proterozoic; Upper Proterozoic and Lower Paleozoic fossils are particularly common. The formation of stromatolites occurs in warm, shallow waters with elevated or decreased salinity. The various morphological types, which evolved during the course of geological time, are used for the biostratigraphic analysis of Upper Proterozoic deposits, in which remains of other organisms are extremely rare.