Stromatolites (or more generally, microbialites) are carbonate encased complex microbial communities. They were a mainstream feature of early earth and now are found only in special ecosystems that provide for bacterial domination. This talk describes the bacterial constituency and metabolism within the local context of extant microbialites. We provide evidence that at least one of the conditions for microbialite formation is the presence of sulfur cycle resident in the community. Descriptions such as these better define possible early earth conditions that proved ripe for stromatolite formation and the possibility that we might extend those constraints to the possibilities of similar biotic preservation extra terrestrially.
Getting Under Europa’s Skin
Tracing Formation and Evolution of Outer Solar System Bodies Through Stable Isotopes and Noble Gas Abundances
Photosynthesis, a Planetary Revolution
Xenon: King of the Gases
NAI
