A Geochemical Comparison of Southern African Stromatolites and Stromatolite Pools
- Authors: Dodd, Carla
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Stromatolites
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/48235 , vital:40527
- Description: Microbialite accretion takes place via either mineral precipitation, the trapping and binding of mineral and sediment grains, or a combination of the two. Recently, the geochemistry of carbonate deposits, including microbialites, has been used to reconstruct palaeoenvironments and infer biogenicity. Numerous modern stromatolite (layered microbialites) systems are located on the southern African coastline and are formed predominantly by mineral precipitation with minor detrital input. In order to better understand the environmental and biological processes influencing the formation of microbialites, the geochemistry of southern African coastalstromatolites is examined. This is done by a spatial comparison of the hydrochemistry as well as the major and trace element geochemistry of various coastal stromatolite systems. The influence of the underlying geology on the composition of the stromatolites forms a particular focus of the study. In addition, the effect of metazoans on the micro-fabrics and sediment incorporation into the stromatolite matrix is assessed. Finally, the trace element geochemistry of active, inactive, and ancient stromatolites is compared with a speleothem sample in order to test the validity of using trace elements as a means to determine biogenicity of deposition. Results show that the bulk geochemistry of the South African stromatolites is not a simple function of the associated bedrock lithologies, although certain parallels do exist. It was found that metazoans indirectly influence sediment incorporation by increasing porosity and thereby accommodation space for detrital input. Furthermore, trace element signatures could not be directly attributed to microbial influence in the deposition of the carbonates. Ultimately, this study provides valuable insights into the formation processes of the active South African stromatolites and the use of trace elements as a geochemical tool to investigate the evolution of life and determine past environmental conditions.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
- Authors: Dodd, Carla
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Stromatolites
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/48235 , vital:40527
- Description: Microbialite accretion takes place via either mineral precipitation, the trapping and binding of mineral and sediment grains, or a combination of the two. Recently, the geochemistry of carbonate deposits, including microbialites, has been used to reconstruct palaeoenvironments and infer biogenicity. Numerous modern stromatolite (layered microbialites) systems are located on the southern African coastline and are formed predominantly by mineral precipitation with minor detrital input. In order to better understand the environmental and biological processes influencing the formation of microbialites, the geochemistry of southern African coastalstromatolites is examined. This is done by a spatial comparison of the hydrochemistry as well as the major and trace element geochemistry of various coastal stromatolite systems. The influence of the underlying geology on the composition of the stromatolites forms a particular focus of the study. In addition, the effect of metazoans on the micro-fabrics and sediment incorporation into the stromatolite matrix is assessed. Finally, the trace element geochemistry of active, inactive, and ancient stromatolites is compared with a speleothem sample in order to test the validity of using trace elements as a means to determine biogenicity of deposition. Results show that the bulk geochemistry of the South African stromatolites is not a simple function of the associated bedrock lithologies, although certain parallels do exist. It was found that metazoans indirectly influence sediment incorporation by increasing porosity and thereby accommodation space for detrital input. Furthermore, trace element signatures could not be directly attributed to microbial influence in the deposition of the carbonates. Ultimately, this study provides valuable insights into the formation processes of the active South African stromatolites and the use of trace elements as a geochemical tool to investigate the evolution of life and determine past environmental conditions.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
Modern supratidal microbialites fed by groundwater: functional drivers, value and trajectories
- Rishworth, Gavin M, Dodd, Carla, Perissinotto, Renzo, Bornman, Thomas G, Adams, Janine B, Anderson, Callum R, Cawthra, Hayley C, Dorrington, Hayley C, du Toit, Hendrik, Edworthy, Carla, Gibb, Ross-Lynne A, Human, Lucienne R D, Isemonger, Eric W, Lemley, David A, Miranda, Nelson A F, Peer, Nasreen, Raw, Jacqueline L, Smith, Alan M, Steyn, Paul-Pierre, Strydom, Nadine A, Teske, Peter R, Welman, Peter R
- Authors: Rishworth, Gavin M , Dodd, Carla , Perissinotto, Renzo , Bornman, Thomas G , Adams, Janine B , Anderson, Callum R , Cawthra, Hayley C , Dorrington, Hayley C , du Toit, Hendrik , Edworthy, Carla , Gibb, Ross-Lynne A , Human, Lucienne R D , Isemonger, Eric W , Lemley, David A , Miranda, Nelson A F , Peer, Nasreen , Raw, Jacqueline L , Smith, Alan M , Steyn, Paul-Pierre , Strydom, Nadine A , Teske, Peter R , Welman, Peter R
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/426008 , vital:72306 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.earscirev.2020.103364"
- Description: Microbial mats were the dominant habitat type in shallow marine environments between the Palaeoarchean and Phanerozoic. Many of these (termed ‘microbialites’) calcified as they grew but such lithified mats are rare along modern coasts for reasons such as unsuitable water chemistry, destructive metazoan influences and competition with other reef-builders such as corals or macroalgae. Nonetheless, extant microbialites occur in unique coastal ecosystems such as the Exuma Cays, Bahamas or Lake Clifton and Hamelin Pool, Australia, where limitations such as calcium carbonate availability or destructive bioturbation are diminished. Along the coast of South Africa, extensive distributions of living microbialites (including layered stromatolites) have been discovered and described since the early 2000s. Unlike the Bahamian and Australian ecosystems, the South African microbialites form exclusively in the supratidal coastal zone at the convergence of emergent groundwater seepage. Similar systems were documented subsequently in southwestern Australia, Northern Ireland and the Scottish Hebrides, as recently as 2018, revealing that supratidal microbialites have a global distribution. This review uses the best-studied formations to contextualise formative drivers and processes of these supratidal ecosystems and highlight their geological, ecological and societal relevance.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
- Authors: Rishworth, Gavin M , Dodd, Carla , Perissinotto, Renzo , Bornman, Thomas G , Adams, Janine B , Anderson, Callum R , Cawthra, Hayley C , Dorrington, Hayley C , du Toit, Hendrik , Edworthy, Carla , Gibb, Ross-Lynne A , Human, Lucienne R D , Isemonger, Eric W , Lemley, David A , Miranda, Nelson A F , Peer, Nasreen , Raw, Jacqueline L , Smith, Alan M , Steyn, Paul-Pierre , Strydom, Nadine A , Teske, Peter R , Welman, Peter R
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/426008 , vital:72306 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.earscirev.2020.103364"
- Description: Microbial mats were the dominant habitat type in shallow marine environments between the Palaeoarchean and Phanerozoic. Many of these (termed ‘microbialites’) calcified as they grew but such lithified mats are rare along modern coasts for reasons such as unsuitable water chemistry, destructive metazoan influences and competition with other reef-builders such as corals or macroalgae. Nonetheless, extant microbialites occur in unique coastal ecosystems such as the Exuma Cays, Bahamas or Lake Clifton and Hamelin Pool, Australia, where limitations such as calcium carbonate availability or destructive bioturbation are diminished. Along the coast of South Africa, extensive distributions of living microbialites (including layered stromatolites) have been discovered and described since the early 2000s. Unlike the Bahamian and Australian ecosystems, the South African microbialites form exclusively in the supratidal coastal zone at the convergence of emergent groundwater seepage. Similar systems were documented subsequently in southwestern Australia, Northern Ireland and the Scottish Hebrides, as recently as 2018, revealing that supratidal microbialites have a global distribution. This review uses the best-studied formations to contextualise formative drivers and processes of these supratidal ecosystems and highlight their geological, ecological and societal relevance.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
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