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RESEARCH PRODUCT

Calcitic radial palisadic fabric in freshwater stromatolites: diagenetic and recrystallized feature or physicochemical sinter crust?

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Abstract When favorable conditions occur for carbonate precipitation (physicochemical processes) in tufas and travertines, organisms intervene either directly (the framework created by organisms acts as a crystal support) or indirectly (organic products influencing the mineralogy, nucleation, growth and habit of primary crystals). In the literature, fluvial and travertine crystalline sparite crusts with palisadic or prismatic crystals are generally interpreted as the result of early recrystallization of micrite in algal buildups (mostly composed of Schizothrix). Therefore, biological mediation is essential for the construction of continental bioherms and biostromes, even if organic remains are frequent in micrite and primary sparites, and rare or totally absent in secondary sparites.