Search results for "microbialites"
showing 8 items of 8 documents
Integrative analysis of the mineralogical and chemical composition of modern microbialites from ten Mexican lakes: What do we learn about their forma…
2021
International audience; Interpreting the environmental conditions under which ancient microbialites formed relies upon comparisons with modern analogues. This is why we need a detailed reference framework relating the chemical and mineralogical compositions of modern microbialites to the physical and chemical parameters prevailing in the environments where they form. Here, we measured the chemical, including major and trace elements, and mineralogical composition of microbialites from ten Mexican lakes as well as the chemical composition of the surrounding waters. Saturation states of lakes with different mineral phases were systematically determined and correlations between solution and so…
Structure and evolution of a Messinian mixed carbonate-siliciclastic platform: the role of evaporites (Sorbas Basin, South-east Spain).
2010
36 pages; International audience; The Sorbas Member is a late Messinian complex sedimentary systemthat formed immediately following deposition of the Messinian evaporites in the Sorbas Basin (South-east Spain). This work describes the sequence architecture and facies organization of a continuous kilometre long, alluvial fan to open platform transect near the village of Cariatiz in the north-east of the basin. The postevaporitic Cariatiz platform was a mixed carbonate-siliciclastic system composed of four intermediate-frequency, fifth-order depositional sequences (Depositional Sequences 1 to 4) arranged in an overall prograding trend. The intense fracturing and brecciation of these deposits …
Smithian shoreline migrations and depositional settings in Timpoweap Canyon (Early Triassic, Utah, USA).
2014
AbstractIn Timpoweap Canyon near Hurricane (Utah, USA), spectacular outcrop conditions of Early Triassic rocks document the geometric relationships between a massive Smithian fenestral-microbial unit and underlying, lateral and overlying sedimentary units. This allows us to reconstruct the evolution of depositional environments and high-frequency relative sea-level fluctuations in the studied area. Depositional environments evolved from a coastal plain with continental deposits to peritidal settings with fenestral-microbial limestones, which are overlain by intertidal to shallow subtidal marine bioclastic limestones. This transgressive trend of a large-scale depositional sequence marks a lo…
Geochemical evidence for arsenic cycling in living microbialites of a High Altitude Andean Lake (Laguna Diamante, Argentina)
2020
Arsenic is best known as an environmental toxin, but this element could also serve as a metabolic energy source to certain microorganisms. Moreover, As cycling may have driven microbial life on early Earth prior to oxygenation of the atmosphere. Still, little is known about the arsenic cycling processes occurring in the presence of microorganisms and the possible traces that could be preserved in the rock record. To advance our understanding of this we studied the geochemical proxies of microbial As metabolism in living microbialites from Laguna Diamante, a likely Precambrian ecosystem analogue (Catamarca, Argentina). In this study, we show that the coexistence of As(III) and As(V) strongly…
Genesis of the Lower Triassic bonebeds from Gogolin (S Poland): The impact of microbial mats on trapping of vertebrate remains
2017
Three bone-bearing horizons, consis ting of seven bone-bearing beds with fi sh and reptile remains, were recently discovered in the Uppermost Röt (Buntsandstein, Lower Tri assic) peritidal and shallow marine carbonates in the vi- cinity of Gogolin (S Poland). The aim of this study is to reco gnize the genesis and deposi tional environments of the bonebeds. Detailed fi eldwork, microfacies analysis, and SEM-EDS anal ysis reveal that the vertebrate remains occur to a great extent alongside evidence for former microbial activity. The reptile remains represent at least Dactylosaurus and Nothosaurus (Sauropterygia) genera, while the fi sh remains belong to the Chondrichthyes and Actinopterygii. …
Microbial deposits in the aftermath of the end-Permian mass extinction: A diverging case from the Mineral Mountains (Utah, USA)
2015
40 pages; International audience; The Lower Triassic Mineral Mountains area (Utah, USA) preserves diversified Smithian and Spathian reefs and bioaccumulations that contain fenestral-microbialites and various benthic and pelagic organisms. Ecological and environmental changes during the Early Triassic are commonly assumed to be associated with numerous perturbations (productivity changes, acidifica-tion, redox changes, hypercapnia, eustatism and temperature changes) post-dating the Permian–Triassic mass extinction. New data acquired in the Mineral Mountains sediments provide evidence to decipher the relationships between depositional environments and the growth and distribution of microbial …
Between a rock and a soft place: the role of viruses in lithification of modern microbial mats.
2021
10 pages; International audience; Stromatolites are geobiological systems formed by complex microbial communities, and fossilized stromatolites provide a record of some of the oldest life on Earth. Microbial mats are precursors of extant stromatolites; however, the mechanisms of transition from mat to stromatolite are controversial and are still not well understood. To fully recognize the profound impact that these ecosystems have had on the evolution of the biosphere requires an understanding of modern lithification mechanisms and how they relate to the geological record. We propose here viral mechanisms in carbonate precipitation, leading to stromatolite formation, whereby viruses directl…