Geological Society of America

T80 Lacustrine Microbialites Past and Present: Hydrology, Water Chemistry, Sedimentology, and Stratigraphy

Monday, 5 November 2012
9:45 AM - 12:00 PM
219AB

GRAIN SIZE ANALYSIS IN LACUSTRINE GREEN RIVER FORMATION (EOCENE) STROMATOLITES: IMPLICATIONS FOR STROMATOLITE BUILDING PROCESSES

Paper number: T80-8
Program: Technical Sessions
Time: 11:30 AM – 11:45 AM

Authors

Frank Corsetti Presenting Author
University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA
Veronica Duran M
Instituto de Astrobiologia Colombia, Bogota, N/A
Flavia Jaquelina Boidi
Planta Piloto de Procesos Industriales Microbiológicos, San Miguel de Tucumán, N/A
Amanda Achberger
Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA
Caitlin Cox
Cornell University, Ithaca, NY
Daniel B. Mills
University of Southern Denmark, Odense M
Victoria Petryshyn
University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA
Carie M. Frantz
University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA
Russell S. Shapiro
CSU Chico, Chico, CA

Abstract

Lacustrine stromatolites are commonly micritic and/or contain precipitated carbonate fabrics, making them closer textural analogues to many ancient stromatolites versus coarse-grained modern marine examples. Here, we present grain-size data from the lacustrine stromatolites of the LaClede Bed, Green River Formation (Eocene), to better understand the grain size distribution within the stromatolites, and discuss what the grain size distribution might imply for the process of stromatolite formation.

Laminae of the LaClede stromatolites (50-500 microns in thickness) are predominantly micritic, with a lesser fraction composed of calcite precipitates. The intercolumn fill, on the other hand, is composed of very coarse sediment (e.g., ooids, ostracods, and detrital grains), typically between 0.3 and 2 mm. A small fraction of larger grains are present within the stromatolite. The majority of the grains between 500 and 700 microns typically reside in “micro-topography” (mm-scale depressions on the former surface of the stromatolite). Finer grains (60-500 microns) are present within some laminae, but only 5% of the grains were found in laminae that dip >20 degrees.

Our study highlights the difference between grains “legitimately” trapped along stromatolite laminae versus those caught in micro-topography and subsequently bound along the stromatolite surface, allowing us to better constrain the process of stromatolite formation. If we assume a predominantly microbial origin for the stromatolites, then the microbial community was not able to trap and bind larger grains where the laminae dipped beyond 20 degrees, it was able to trap/precipitate micrite at all dip angles, and it was able to bind the grains trapped (by gravity) in microtopography. Thus, the grain size analysis allows us to constrain some of the properties of the stromatolite-building community. Based on our observations of grain trapping and binding by living mats, we speculate that the trapping and binding abilities are more consistent with a cyanobacterial community vs. a eukaryotic community. The work presented here was conducted in association with the 2012 International Geobiology Summer Course.