Wiktionary
alt. (context geology English) A laminated, columnar, rock-like structure built over geologic time by microorganisms such as cyanobacteria. n. (context geology English) A laminated, columnar, rock-like structure built over geologic time by microorganisms such as cyanobacteria.
Wikipedia
Stromatolites or stromatoliths (from Greek στρώμα, strōma, mattress, bed, stratum, and λίθος, lithos, rock) are layered bio-chemical accretionary structures formed in shallow water by the trapping, binding and cementation of sedimentary grains by biofilms ( microbial mats) of microorganisms, especially cyanobacteria. Fossilized stromatolites provide ancient records of life on Earth by these remains, some of which date from more than 3.5 billion years ago. Lichen stromatolites are a proposed mechanism of formation of some kinds of layered rock structure that are formed above water, where rock meets air, by repeated colonization of the rock by endolithic lichens.
Usage examples of "stromatolite".
Boardwalks have been built out into the bay so that visitors can stroll over the water to get a good look at the stromatolites, quietly respiring just beneath the surface.
It is suggested that these are stromatolites, and that the ovoid forms are archaea or nanobacteria, either dormant or slowed metabolically in response to a long-failing environment.
Without stromatolites and the oxygen they produced, the Earth would be barren of all oxygen-based life forms.
It does not form those dense thick carpets, which are called stromatolites, or the big fleshy bulbs growing on the surface.
There were domical and flat-laminated stromatolites almost identical to those on Earth but an order of magnitude bigger.
Most stromatolites appear to be formed by microbes growing in mats in shallow seawater, layer by layer.
It touched down at Deuteronilus Mensae in 2017 and successfully completed all of its objectives, including locating and identifying formations that resembled fossilized stromatolites, but when the landing party attempted to return to orbit, the motor of the ascent stage flamed out a few seconds after liftoff.
Boardwalks have been built out into the bay so that visitors can stroll over the water to get a good look at the stromatolites, quietly respiring just beneath the surface.
As they went through their chemical routines, the cyanobacteria became very slightly tacky, and that tackiness trapped microparticles of dust and sand, which became bound together to form slightly weird but solid structures—the stromatolites that were featured in the shallows of the poster on Victoria Bennett’s office wall.