Carbonate-rich dendrolitic cones: insights into a modern analog for incipient microbialite formation, Little Hot Creek, Long Valley Caldera, California.

ABSTRACT: Ancient putative microbial structures that appear in the rock record commonly serve as evidence of early life on Earth, but the details of their formation remain unclear. The study of modern microbial mat structures can help inform the properties of their ancient counterparts, but modern mineralizing mat systems with morphological similarity to ancient structures are rare. Here, we characterize partially lithified microbial mats containing cm-scale dendrolitic coniform structures from a geothermal pool ("Cone Pool") at Little Hot Creek, California, that if fully lithified, would resemble ancient dendrolitic structures known from the rock record. Light and electron microscopy revealed that the cm-scale 'dendrolitic cones' were comprised of intertwined microbial filaments and grains of calci

SUBMITTER: Bradley JA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5698408 | biostudies-literature | 2017

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature