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Stromatolites

Stromatolites or stromatoliths

Photo by AurelRavoux
Published on Project Noah
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-26.435, 114.2

Field Notes

Description:

They are layered accretionary structures formed in shallow water by the trapping, binding and cementation of sedimentary grains by biofilms of microorganisms, especially cyanobacteria (commonly known as blue-green algae).[1] Stromatolites provide some of the most ancient records of life on Earth.

Habitat:

They are found in hypersaline lakes and marine lagoons where extreme conditions due to high saline levels exclude animal grazing. One such location is Hamelin Pool Marine Nature Reserve, Shark Bay in Western Australia.

Species ID Suggestions

Comments (4)

This is one thing i want to see more than anything! First Life!
Very original spotting, thanks!
Fantastic photos of a really unusual sign of "wildlife" :D I will be using cyanobacteria in some experiments in a few months time! Nice spotting :)
Photographed
PublishedOctober 28, 2011

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