Julie Bartley with coauthors Linda Kah, Tracy Frank, and Tim Lyons
published a paper in the journal Geobiology. The article is titled
"Deep-water microbialites of the Mesoproterozoic Dismal Lakes Group:
microbial growth, lithification, and implications for coniform
stromatolites," also made the cover of the January issue of the journal.
This research, based on fieldwork in arctic Canada, looks at some
now-extinct stromatolite forms that grew on the deeper portion of a
carbonate platform (~50 m water depth). These microbialites may have hosted
both photosynthetic and chemotrophic (sulfur-oxidizing) bacteria. Similar
communities occur in deep-water settings today, but they don't form
carbonate minerals, so they can't be preserved as lithified microbialites.
Julie and her coauthors argue that studying these ancient, peculiar
microbialites provides insight into the evolution of microbial ecosystems
and carbonate precipitation through time.
