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The History and Significance of Stromatolites

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Early Organic Evolution

Abstract

The fossil record of prokaryotes extends back 3500 million years and prokaryotes were only forms of life known for the first 2000 million years of Earth history. Understanding the fossil record of these organisms is important for the comprehension of the interaction of geological factors and the evolution of life. Prokaryo-tic microbial fossils, however, do not provide sufficient detailed evidence to help a great deal in this. Stromatolites, the biosedimentary products of microbe-sediment interactions, have the potential to provide significant information on the interaction of the biosphere, atmosphere, hydrosphere, and litho-sphere throughout the entire history of life on this planet.

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  1. Stanley M. Awramik

    Present address: Department of Geological Sciences, Preston Research Laboratory, University of California, Santa Barbara 106, USA

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  1. Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Western Australian Museum, Francis Street, Perth, Western Australia, 6000, Australia

    Stanley M. Awramik

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  1. IGCP Project 157, Max-Planck-Institut für Chemie (Otto-Hahn-Institut), Saarstr. 23, W-6500, Mainz, Germany

    Manfred Schidlowski (Chairman) (Chairman)

  2. Biological Science Center, Boston University, Boston, MA, 02215, USA

    Stjepko Golubic

  3. Dept. of Marine, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, 27695-8208, USA

    Michael M. Kimberley

  4. Department of Geology & Geophysics, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, S.A., 5001, Australia

    David M. McKirdy Sr. (Lecturer) (Lecturer)

  5. Division of Continental Geology, Bureau of Mineral Resources, GPO Box 378, Canberra, A.C.T., 2601, Australia

    Philip A. Trudinger

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Awramik, S.M. (1992). The History and Significance of Stromatolites. In: Schidlowski, M., Golubic, S., Kimberley, M.M., McKirdy, D.M., Trudinger, P.A. (eds) Early Organic Evolution. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-76884-2_34

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