#Microbialite
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elakdawalla.bsky.social
This is cool both for carbon sequestration on earth and for science fiction tech around terraforming. I wonder if fast-growing microbialite could be used as a building material…
eos.org Eos @eos.org · Jan 28
Microbialites—rocks formed by microbes—can store an “astonishing” amount of carbon, according to a new study.
Rocks Formed by Microbes Absorb Carbon Day and Night - Eos
Microbialite ecosystems in South Africa stored an “astonishing” amount of carbon, according to new research.
eos.org
January 28, 2026 at 5:27 PM
geologyjohnson.bsky.social
Some really well preserved Eocene stromatolites. Some more lovely microbialite photos from Andrea.
archeanandrea.bsky.social Andrea Corpolongo, Ph.D. @archeanandrea.bsky.social · Dec 6
Happy #FossilFriday! Here is a glorious stromatolite I collected from the Wilkins Peak Member of the Eocene Green River Formation. I absolutely did not expect to find adorable little columns hiding beneath that blistered surface. It's one of my favorite samples simply because of the fun surprise!
My hand pointing to an outcrop of carbonate rock. The rock is light tan, about 6 inches long and 2 inches high, with a blistered surface texture. There is a scale card above the rock. Below the rock there is a sample bag labeled with the sample code: WR1-22-3, the sample location: 41 degrees 53 minutes 39 seconds north and 109 degrees 15 minutes 51 seconds west, and the date of collection: 6/6/22 A piece of the outcrop from the first image. It is sitting on a black lab bench. There is a red line digitally drawn vertically across the center of the rock. This line indicates the location of the cross section that is shown in the third image. Scale bar = 1 centimeter The image shows a spectacular little stromatolite. It consists of three columns that formed on a base of sediment. Each column is about a half centimeter across at its base and widens about 1.5 centimeters at its top. Each has submillimeter layers in colors that range from dark brown to pale gray. The columns are overlain by a little less than a centimeter of additional submillimeter microbial layers that are pale tan and pale gray.
December 6, 2024 at 11:05 PM
ecowarriorss.bsky.social
Rocks Formed by Microbes Absorb Carbon Day and Night
Microbialite ecosystems in South Africa stored an “astonishing” amount of carbon, according to new research
eos.org/articles/roc...
Rocks Formed by Microbes Absorb Carbon Day and Night - Eos
Microbialite ecosystems in South Africa stored an “astonishing” amount of carbon, according to new research.
eos.org
January 28, 2026 at 1:14 AM
bedform.org
Everyone's at NCECA and posting pretty Salt Lake photos and now I am getting FOMO and nostalgia
View across a crystal clear Great Salt Lake with a prominent mountain in the background and wave rippled oolitic sands with darker colored microbialite rollers in the foreground View across the Great Salt Lake with a prominent mountain in the background and wave rippled oolitic sands and microbialite mounds in the foreground hand holding a scoop of ooids, small round grains of carbonate sand a crystal clear Great Salt Lake bed of wave rippled oolitic sands with darker colored microbialite rollers
March 24, 2025 at 2:33 PM
obialik.bsky.social
It's more than just the corals holding a reef together. Microbialites do a fair bit of trapping, binding, and biomineralization. Back in the Proterozoics, they made the reefs. But even in modern reefs, such as in Hawaii, they contribute. 🧪🌊

Link: https://bg.copernicus.org/articles/23/4759/2026/​
Schematic diagram of loci of microbialite formation in a coral reef under slightly shaded euphotic versus oligophotic cryptic conditions. Section through a coral reef, (A) euphotic versus cryptic setting in a cavity, (B) close-up of euphotic setting with cyanobacterial mat at the surface of the microbialite, (C) close-up of detrital organic matter-driven microbial mat in a cavity. Diagrams illustrating gradients in alkalinity, organic matter, and oxygen throughout the upper layers of the microbial mats.
July 14, 2026 at 2:12 AM
bedform.org
Most definitely. And the interstitial space is made up entirely of ooids/grapestones and microbialite rollers/balls
Chunk of microbialite mound showing some stromatolitic layering microbialite rollers on ooid sand handfull of grapestone
August 12, 2026 at 2:23 AM
pauleric70.bsky.social
Rocks Formed by Microbes Absorb Carbon Day and Night
Microbialite ecosystems in South Africa stored an “astonishing” amount of carbon, according to new research
eos.org/articles/roc...
Rocks Formed by Microbes Absorb Carbon Day and Night - Eos
Microbialite ecosystems in South Africa stored an “astonishing” amount of carbon, according to new research.
eos.org
January 28, 2026 at 4:58 AM
eos.org
Microbialites—rocks formed by microbes—can store an “astonishing” amount of carbon, according to a new study.
Rocks Formed by Microbes Absorb Carbon Day and Night - Eos
Microbialite ecosystems in South Africa stored an “astonishing” amount of carbon, according to new research.
eos.org
January 28, 2026 at 4:57 PM
eos.org
Microbes form “living” rocks that use a complex network of metabolisms to sequester carbon.
Rocks Formed by Microbes Absorb Carbon Day and Night - Eos
Microbialite ecosystems in South Africa stored an “astonishing” amount of carbon, according to new research.
eos.org
January 31, 2026 at 4:58 PM
eos.org
Microbialites' nighttime carbon sequestration rate was so surprising that scientists initially thought it was a mistake. 🧪

Comments from Rachel Sipler @bigelowlab.bsky.social and Francesco Ricci @monashuniversity.bsky.social. eos.org/articles/roc...
Rocks Formed by Microbes Absorb Carbon Day and Night - Eos
Microbialite ecosystems in South Africa stored an “astonishing” amount of carbon, according to new research.
eos.org
January 27, 2026 at 3:36 PM
spcembl.bsky.social
🚨 New preprint alert 🚨!

👉🏼 @fedevignale.bsky.social

🏔️ Our latest study explores seasonal biogeochemical variations in a modern microbialite reef at Laguna Pozo Bravo 🇦🇷 - a site with conditions reminiscent of early Earth 🌍🦠

📖 Read here : doi.org/10.1101/2025...

@embl.org @cssbhamburg.bsky.social
February 24, 2025 at 9:36 AM
obialik.bsky.social
If there is one trumpet I won't put down is that reefs aren't just corals. But the span of what else is there, even in tropical reefs such as around Hawaii, is amazing. There, cyanobacterial mats have really been doing work.🧪🌊

Link: egusphere.copernicus.org/preprints/20...
Typical textures of layers composing microbialites on the humid side of the Island of Hawai’i. (A) Schematic of the five observed layers; (B, C) cut through the surface of the microbialite (Layer 1) showing fine crystalline texture and trapped grains; (D) collapsed surface layer revealing underlying Layer 2; (E) enlargement of Layer 2 showing filamentous biomorphs; (F) Layer 3 with altered and tightly cemented biomorphs; (G) view of Layers 1, 2, and 3 in a broken surface of a microbialite; (H, I) increase in crystal size of cements enclosing trapped and bound grains with cement showing peloidal textures in Layer 4; (J, K) peloidal texture and syntaxial aragonite needle cement on ascidian spicules in Layer 5 samples.
April 21, 2026 at 2:01 PM
evgenii-protasov.bsky.social
Seasonal biogeochemical variations in a modern microbialite reef under early Earth-like conditions
#geochemistry
www.nature.com/articles/s43...
Seasonal biogeochemical variations in a modern microbialite reef under early Earth-like conditions - Communications Earth & Environment
Microbial communities, exposed to early Earth-like conditions in a modern microbialite reef, change cyclically due to seasonal environmental variations, implying evolved metabolic processes in microbialites over time, based on multiple chemical, physical, and biological analyses.
www.nature.com
September 28, 2025 at 8:39 AM
obialik.bsky.social
Let's talk about a near-alien planet, one where microorganisms dominate all ecological niches they can fill, from building reefs to shaping sand on the beach.
That planet - was Earth, between 3.5 and 1.6 billion years ago.🧪⚒️

Link: agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/...
Cartoon overview of major microbialite depositional environments during the Archean and Paleoproterozoic, with the overall percentages of subtidal marine, terrestrial, and tidal microbialites indicated. Colored stars indicate whether an environment is categorized as marine (blue), terrestrially influenced (yellow; includes tidal settings and epeiric seas), or terrestrial (green). (a) Terrestrial subcategories and epeiric seas. (b) Tidal and subtidal marine subcategories.
April 12, 2026 at 2:15 PM
ambonacolta.bsky.social
Out now in Environmental Microbiome! 🧬

By re-analyzing microbialite sequencing data, we show that chromerid algae (the closest photosynthetic relatives of apicomplexans) are consistent and widespread associates of microbialites across diverse marine and freshwater environments worldwide 🌎
Modern microbialites harbor an undescribed diversity of chromerid algae - Environmental Microbiome
Background Chromerid algae are the closest photosynthetic relatives of apicomplexan parasites. While chromerids have been central to understanding the evolutionary transition from free-living algae to...
link.springer.com
January 15, 2026 at 4:14 PM
bedform.org
They're pretty big! On the order of a couple meters or so max. More thrombolitic than stromatolitic in their internal structure but there are definitely still stromatolitic lamination to them.
Microbialite mounds in the Great Salt Lake with people for scale. Most large domes are about 2m across
August 12, 2026 at 2:17 AM
fedevignale.bsky.social
Some years ago, we discovered a modern microbialite reef under conditions resembling primitive Earth 🌋

Now we show how seasonal extremes drive microbial shifts and mineralisation, offering a window into processes that shaped Earth’s first biostructures 🪨

www.nature.com/articles/s43247-025-02764-6
September 24, 2025 at 1:12 PM
natcomms.nature.com
Arsenic-rich globules are thought to be evidence of early #microbial life. Here, the authors show how microbialite #arsenic enrichment patterns vary with microbial activity and environmental conditions, reinforcing arsenic’s value as a #biosignature.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Arsenic enrichment patterns are defined by microbialite morphology, fabric, and accretion mechanism - Nature Communications
Arsenic-rich globules are thought to be evidence of early microbial life. Here, the authors show how microbialite arsenic enrichment patterns vary with microbial activity and environmental conditions,...
www.nature.com
November 20, 2025 at 1:51 PM
geobioreadinggroup.bsky.social
October 3, 2025: doi.org/10.1038/s432...
Seasonal biogeochemical variations in a modern microbialite reef under early Earth-like conditions - Communications Earth & Environment
Microbial communities, exposed to early Earth-like conditions in a modern microbialite reef, change cyclically due to seasonal environmental variations, implying evolved metabolic processes in microbialites over time, based on multiple chemical, physical, and biological analyses.
doi.org
October 1, 2025 at 9:19 PM
carbonatefan.bsky.social
Our new paper is featured on the cover of the latest issue of Geobiology. The paper describes microbial fabrics that have previously been misinterpreted as ancient sponge fossils. Very sorry to anyone who now has to update their early animal evolution powerpoints! 🧪⚒️
doi.org/10.1111/gbi....
Cover of the Sept/Oct 2024 issue of the journal Geobiology. Subheading: 'Mapping microbial mats on the micrometer scale'. Central image is a high resolution picture of the microbialite described in the linked article, including stromatolitic and dendrolitic features.
November 12, 2024 at 3:29 PM
fedevignale.bsky.social
Last week I attended the M-FED 2025, where I presented the discovery of uncharacterized microbial ecosystems in the Central Andes 🌎

I also joined the workshop “Grow your own microbial mat” and we visited the UNESCO Geopark Heeseberg! ⛏️

A great week of microbialite science!
October 5, 2025 at 1:36 PM
jcamthrash.bsky.social
Chemosynthesis enhances carbon fixation in an active microbialite ecosystem www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... #jcampubs
January 6, 2025 at 2:52 PM
biorxiv-microbiol.bsky.social
Chemosynthesis enhances carbon fixation in an active microbialite ecosystem https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.12.18.629060v1
January 4, 2025 at 10:20 PM
joybuongiorno.bsky.social
I love that I have the opportunity to handle microbialite papers at Nat Comms! My first love 🥰
November 20, 2025 at 1:52 PM
cardboardart.bsky.social
Better than trees! Rocks Formed by Microbes Absorb Carbon Day and Night eos.org/articles/roc...
Rocks Formed by Microbes Absorb Carbon Day and Night - Eos
Microbialite ecosystems in South Africa stored an “astonishing” amount of carbon, according to new research.
eos.org
January 28, 2026 at 1:33 AM