Freshwater microbialites from Laguna Bacalar, Quintana Roo, Mexico: effects controlling their growth

• Author / Creator

  Castro, Set, I

• Microbialites are among the oldest direct evidence of life on Earth. They
  reached their greatest abundance and diversity during the Proterozoic and decline
  thereafter. The decline has been attributed to grazing and/or burrowing by
  metazoan, to changes in ocean chemistry leading to a drop in carbonate saturation,
  or to substrate and elemental competition with other organisms capable of
  precipitating calcium carbonate (CaCO3). Here we examine the freshwater
  microbialites of Laguna Bacalar (Mexico) in hope of better understanding the
  various factors controlling their growth, and internal fabric. It was concluded that
  microbialite growth was controlled by the supersaturation of water with regards to
  CaCO3, however, the laminated (stromatolitic) and clotted (thrombolitic) fabric
  were dependent on sediment transport and availability. The presence of
  gastropods and bivalves appeared not to influence growth due to the fast growth
  rate employed by microbialites as well as to the endolithic growth of the
  cyanobacteria present.

• Subjects / Keywords

  • Geochemistry
  • Laguna Bacalar
  • Microbialites

• Graduation date

  Fall 2014

• Type of Item

  Thesis

• Degree

  Master of Science

• DOI

  https://doi.org/10.7939/R3VW90

• License

  This thesis is made available by the University of Alberta Libraries with permission of the copyright owner solely for non-commercial purposes. This thesis, or any portion thereof, may not otherwise be copied or reproduced without the written consent of the copyright owner, except to the extent permitted by Canadian copyright law.