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Microbial interactions with physical sediment dynamics, and their significance for the interpretation of Earth's biological history

Microbial interactions with physical sediment dynamics, and their significance for the... The interpretation of the fossil record, especially with respect to microorganisms, faces a great variety of difficulties. First, microorganisms are very small, and the likelihood that they are visibly preserved as tiny body fossils in a rock is considerably low. Second, rock successions may include structures, but without the knowledge of how those structures look and how those structures formed, geoscientists potentially cannot recognize them. Third, it is very difficult to reconstruct a palaeoenvironmental setting where microorganisms occur without understanding how and which parameters of the depositional environment affect the microorganisms, their preservation, their distribution in time and space, and how those microorganisms shape the environment. This is especially the case for the microbially dominated Precambrian palaeosettings. In order to discuss those problems, we first have to take a look at the depositional frame, where microorganisms occur. Sedimentary systems can roughly be categorized in three main types ( Noffke ., 2003 ): (i) physical systems that are governed exclusively by erosion, deposition and deformation of sediment by external parameters such as water motion or intrasedimentary gas pressure. An example would be a siliciclastic tidal flat; (ii) chemical‐I systems, where erosion, deposition, and deformation take place, but also the http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Geobiology Wiley

Microbial interactions with physical sediment dynamics, and their significance for the interpretation of Earth's biological history

NOFFKE, N.; PATERSON, D.
Geobiology , Volume 6 (1) – Jan 1, 2008
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References (14)

Publisher
Wiley
Copyright
Copyright © 2008 Wiley Subscription Services, Inc., A Wiley Company
ISSN
1472-4677
eISSN
1472-4669
DOI
10.1111/j.1472-4669.2007.00132.x
pmid
18380881
Publisher site
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Abstract

The interpretation of the fossil record, especially with respect to microorganisms, faces a great variety of difficulties. First, microorganisms are very small, and the likelihood that they are visibly preserved as tiny body fossils in a rock is considerably low. Second, rock successions may include structures, but without the knowledge of how those structures look and how those structures formed, geoscientists potentially cannot recognize them. Third, it is very difficult to reconstruct a palaeoenvironmental setting where microorganisms occur without understanding how and which parameters of the depositional environment affect the microorganisms, their preservation, their distribution in time and space, and how those microorganisms shape the environment. This is especially the case for the microbially dominated Precambrian palaeosettings. In order to discuss those problems, we first have to take a look at the depositional frame, where microorganisms occur. Sedimentary systems can roughly be categorized in three main types ( Noffke ., 2003 ): (i) physical systems that are governed exclusively by erosion, deposition and deformation of sediment by external parameters such as water motion or intrasedimentary gas pressure. An example would be a siliciclastic tidal flat; (ii) chemical‐I systems, where erosion, deposition, and deformation take place, but also the

Journal

Geobiology – Wiley

Published: Jan 1, 2008

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