Taphonomic Control on Microstructure in Early Neoproterozoic Reefal Stromatolites and Thrombolites

Abstract

Other| April 01, 2000 Taphonomic Control on Microstructure in Early Neoproterozoic Reefal Stromatolites and Thrombolites ELIZABETH C. TURNER; ELIZABETH C. TURNER 1Department of Geological Sciences, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, K7L 3N6, Canada Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar NOËL P. JAMES; NOËL P. JAMES 1Department of Geological Sciences, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, K7L 3N6, Canada Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar GUY M. NARBONNE GUY M. NARBONNE 1Department of Geological Sciences, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, K7L 3N6, Canada Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Author and Article Information ELIZABETH C. TURNER 1Department of Geological Sciences, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, K7L 3N6, Canada NOËL P. JAMES 1Department of Geological Sciences, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, K7L 3N6, Canada GUY M. NARBONNE 1Department of Geological Sciences, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, K7L 3N6, Canada Publisher: SEPM Society for Sedimentary Geology Accepted: 08 Dec 1999 First Online: 03 Mar 2017 Online ISSN: 1938-5323 Print ISSN: 0883-1351 Society for Sedimentary Geology PALAIOS (2000) 15 (2): 87–111. https://doi.org/10.1669/0883-1351(2000)015<0087:TCOMIE>2.0.CO;2 Article history Accepted: 08 Dec 1999 First Online: 03 Mar 2017 Cite View This Citation Add to Citation Manager Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn MailTo Tools Icon Tools Get Permissions Search Site Citation ELIZABETH C. TURNER, NOËL P. JAMES, GUY M. NARBONNE; Taphonomic Control on Microstructure in Early Neoproterozoic Reefal Stromatolites and Thrombolites. PALAIOS 2000;; 15 (2): 87–111. doi: https://doi.org/10.1669/0883-1351(2000)015<0087:TCOMIE>2.0.CO;2 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Refmanager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentBy SocietyPALAIOS Search Advanced Search Abstract Early Neoproterozoic reefs of the Little Dal Group, Northwest Territories, are built by stromatolites and thrombolites containing calcified filamentous cyanobacteria and interstitial cement. Micritic and microcrystalline carbonate grew in or on extracellular cyanobacterial sheaths, preserving filaments when mineralization was early relative to sheath degradation, or grumeaux when mineralization was later. Filamentous microstructure is volumetrically predominant in the reefs; less common are micritic and grumelous microstructures already known from late Proterozoic stromatolites and Phanerozoic thrombolites. Textural intergradation of filamentous-calcimicrobial microstructure with these non-filamentous microstructures reflects microstructural variation developed through differential preservation at the scale of individual filaments and laminae. Textural gradients from filaments to grumeaux, and from calcimicrobial to stromatolitic and thrombolitic microstructure types, imply that a wide variety of microbialite microstructure types can be derived from a single progenitor community. This suggests that taphonomic variables may be as important in the development of microbialite microstructure as the biology of the microbial mat community. It also challenges recent suggestions that the Neoproterozoic increase in thromboids was related to the rise of multicellular organisms. These conclusions have broad implications for the interpretation of fossil microbialites, many of which might have been more closely related in origin than hitherto suspected. You do not have access to this content, please speak to your institutional administrator if you feel you should have access.