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Microbialites, Modern

  • Reference work entry
Encyclopedia of Geobiology

Part of the book series: Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series ((EESS))

Synonyms

“Cryptalgal sedimentary rock” (Aitken, 1967); Microbolite (Riding, 1991)

Definition

Microbialite: “Organosedimentary deposits that have accreted as a result of a benthic microbial community trapping and binding sediment and/or forming the locus of mineral precipitation” (Burne and Moore, 1987), or “Benthic microbial deposits” (Riding, 1991).

Introduction

In this encyclopedia, microbialite is discussed under two chapters: (1) modern and (2) fossil. This part discusses modern microbialites, with emphasis on processes of formation. The fossil extension and classification of microbial deposits (fossil forms being more diverse) are treated in the “fossil microbialite” section of the encyclopedia (see Chapter Microbialites, Stromatolites, and Thrombolites ). Microbialites are composed of trapped, bound, and/or precipitated sediment, and exhibit a range of mineralogies (Figure 1). This chapter focuses on carbonate microbialites, which are the most widespread and the most studied.

Micr...

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Integrative Geosciences – Marine Sciences, University of Connecticut, 354 Mansfield Road, Storrs, CT, 06269-2045, USA

    Christophe Dupraz & Pieter T. Visscher

  2. Marine Geology and Geophysics – RSMAS, University of Miami, 4600 Rickenbacker Causeway, Miami, FL, 33149, USA

    R. Pamela Reid

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  1. Christophe Dupraz
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  2. R. Pamela Reid
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  3. Pieter T. Visscher
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  1. University of Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany

    Joachim Reitner  & Volker Thiel  & 

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Dupraz, C., Reid, R.P., Visscher, P.T. (2011). Microbialites, Modern. In: Reitner, J., Thiel, V. (eds) Encyclopedia of Geobiology. Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-9212-1_195

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