Back to Search
Start Over
Formation and stability of oxygen-rich bubbles that shape photosynthetic mats.
- Source :
-
Geobiology [Geobiology] 2010 Jan; Vol. 8 (1), pp. 45-53, 53-5. - Publication Year :
- 2010
-
Abstract
- Gas release in photic-zone microbialites can lead to preservable morphological biosignatures. Here, we investigate the formation and stability of oxygen-rich bubbles enmeshed by filamentous cyanobacteria. Sub-millimetric and millimetric bubbles can be stable for weeks and even months. During this time, lithifying organic-rich laminae surrounding the bubbles can preserve the shape of bubbles. Cm-scale unstable bubbles support the growth of centimetric tubular towers with distinctly laminated mineralized walls. In environments that enable high photosynthetic rates, only small stable bubbles will be enclosed by a dense microbial mesh, while in deep waters extensive microbial mesh will cover even larger photosynthetic bubbles, increasing their preservation potential. Stable photosynthetic bubbles may be preserved as sub-millimeter and millimeter-diameter features with nearly circular cross-sections in the crests of some Proterozoic conical stromatolites, while centrimetric tubes formed around unstable bubbles provide a model for the formation of tubular carbonate microbialites that are not markedly depleted in (13)C.
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 1472-4669
- Volume :
- 8
- Issue :
- 1
- Database :
- MEDLINE
- Journal :
- Geobiology
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 20055899
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1472-4669.2009.00227.x