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Microbialites: Preservation of Extant and Extinct Systems

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A special issue of Minerals (ISSN 2075-163X). This special issue belongs to the section "Environmental Mineralogy and Biogeochemistry".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 June 2019) | Viewed by 46869

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Prof. Dr. Emmanuelle Vennin

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Guest Editor

Laboratoire Biogéosciences, Université de Bourgogne, Dijon, France
Interests: sedimentology; carbonates; bioconstruction; bioaccumulation; microbialites; phanerozoic

Prof. Dr. Pieter T. Visscher

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Guest Editor

Departments of Marine Sciences and Geosciences, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT 06269, USA
Interests: geomicrobiology; biogeochemistry; geobiochemistry; element cycling; microbial ecophysiology
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Dr. Raphaël Bourillot

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Géoressources & Environnement, ENSEGID-Bordeaux INP, Bordeaux, France
Interests: sedimentology; stratigraphy; diagenesis; geomicrobiology; reefs; microbialites

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Microbialites are organosedimentary deposits formed through the mineralization of benthic microbial mats and/or trapping and binding of sedimentary particles. These structures are abundant in modern—sometimes/often extreme—shallow to deep, freshwater to marine environments, and are common in the fossil record. Consequently, microbialites constitute an invaluable archive of Earth’s past surface and subsurface conditions. The last two decades have seen an emergence of studies focusing on microbe–mineral interactions and the formation of microbial sedimentary fabrics. More recently, early diagenetic processes have also gained research attention. Many recent advances in methodology allow for a better understanding of microbialite formation, from initial development to evolution during early and late diagenesis. The understanding of preservation processes of modern microbial mats, focusing on biotic-abiotic interactions, may facilitate a better interpretation of the fossil record.

This Special Issue combines research on fossil and modern microbialites with a broad focus including sedimentology, (bio)geochemistry, microbiology, molecular biology, geomicrobiology, ecology and mineralogy. The main objectives are to review recent and ongoing developments in this field in order to: (i) refine the understanding of microbialite formation in modern sedimentary environments to (ii) increase the understanding of (the modalities of their) preservation mechanisms to (iii) ultimately improve the interpretation of the fossil record.

The first round of submission deadline was 30 November 2018.

Prof. Dr. Emmanuelle Vennin
Prof. Dr. Pieter T. Visscher
Dr. Raphaël Bourillot
Guest Editors

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Keywords

microbialites
carbonates
mineralization
diagenesis
biotic/abiotic processes

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Published Papers (8 papers)

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34 pages, 88885 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperEditor’s ChoiceArticle

Microbial Origin of the Organic Matter Preserved in the Cayo Coco Lagoonal Network, Cuba

by Anthony Bouton, Emmanuelle Vennin, Christophe Thomazo, Olivier Mathieu, Fabien Garcia, Maxime Jaubert and Pieter T. Visscher

Minerals 2020, 10(2), 143; https://doi.org/10.3390/min10020143 - 7 Feb 2020

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 4227

Abstract

The southern part of the tropical Cayo Coco Island (Cuba) hosts a complex, highly evaporative and marine-fed lagoonal network. In the easternmost lagoon of this network, hypersaline conditions favour the development of complex sedimentary microbial ecosystems within the water column at the bottom water-sediment interface and on the shore. Some of these ecosystems are producing microbial mats and biofilms with variable mineralisation rates, depending on their location. Since the mineralisation of these microbial deposits is rare, the sedimentary record does not provide a direct window on the evolution of these ecosystems or their distribution through space and time. However, microbial deposits also produce copious amounts of organic matter, which may be used to decipher any microbial-related origin within the sedimentary record. Microbial mats and biofilms were identified as the potential source of organic material in addition to the surrounding mangrove, soils and suspended particulate matter (SPM). The origin and evolution of the sedimentary organic matter preserved within the lagoonal sediments has been analysed using geochemical parameters such as elemental (TOC, TN and [C/N]_atomic ratio) and isotopic (δ¹³C_org and δ¹⁵N_TN) signals on four sedimentary cores retrieved from different locations in the lagoon and compared with the geochemical signatures of the potential sources. Despite the high potential for organic matter accumulation in the studied lagoon, the TOC and TN downcore values in sediments that were analysed (i.e., micritic muds and bioclastic sands) remain very low compared to the sediment-water interface. The relative contributions of the different potential sources of organic matter were estimated using [C/N]_atomic ratios and δ¹³C_org values. The δ¹⁵N_TN signature was discarded as a source signature as it records synsedimentary, early diagenetic, secondary evolution of the nitrogen signal associated with OM remineralisation (i.e., denitrification). Finally, among the microbial deposits, the slime recognised in the permanently submersed zone of the waterbody appears to be the main contributor to the organic matter preserved within the sediments of the lagoon. SPM, mainly composed of microbial-rich particles, also contribute and cannot be ruled out as a source. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Microbialites: Preservation of Extant and Extinct Systems)

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22 pages, 6773 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Carbonate Precipitation in Mixed Cyanobacterial Biofilms Forming Freshwater Microbial Tufa

by Dahédrey Payandi-Rolland, Adeline Roche, Emmanuelle Vennin, Pieter T. Visscher, Philippe Amiotte-Suchet, Camille Thomas and Irina A. Bundeleva

Minerals 2019, 9(7), 409; https://doi.org/10.3390/min9070409 - 3 Jul 2019

Cited by 13 | Viewed by 6662

Abstract

Mixed cyanobacteria-dominated biofilms, enriched from a tributary of the Mérantaise (France) were used to conduct laboratory experiments in order to understand the relationship between the morphology of carbonate precipitates and the biological activity (e.g., cyanobacterial exopolymeric substances (EPS) production, photosynthetic pH increases). DNA sequencing data showed that the enriched biofilm was composed predominantly of two types of filamentous cyanobacteria that belonged to the Oscillatoriaceae and Phormidiaceae families, respectively. Microscopic analysis also indicated the presence of some coccoid cyanobacteria resembling Gloeocapsa. Analysis of carbonate precipitates in experimental biofilms showed three main morphologies: micro-peloids with different shapes of mesocrystals associated with Oscillatoriaceae filaments and theirs EPS, lamellae of carbonate formed directly on Phormidiaceae filaments, and rhombic sparite crystals wrapped in EPS. All crystals were identified by FT-IR spectroscopy as calcite. Similar structures as those that formed in laboratory conditions were observed in the microbial-tufa deposits collected in the stream. Microscopic and spectroscopic analysis of laboratory and natural samples indicated a close proximity of the cyanobacterial EPS and precipitated carbonates in both. Based on the laboratory experiments, we conclude that the microbial tufa in the stream is in an early stage of formation. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Microbialites: Preservation of Extant and Extinct Systems)

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37 pages, 32209 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Biotic–Abiotic Influences on Modern Ca–Si-Rich Hydrothermal Spring Mounds of the Pastos Grandes Volcanic Caldera (Bolivia)

by Cédric Bougeault, Emmanuelle Vennin, Christophe Durlet, Elodie Muller, Mathilde Mercuzot, Marco Chavez, Emmanuelle Gérard, Magali Ader, Aurélien Virgone and Eric C. Gaucher

Minerals 2019, 9(6), 380; https://doi.org/10.3390/min9060380 - 23 Jun 2019

Cited by 19 | Viewed by 4968

Abstract

The lacustrine-to-palustrine Pastos Grandes Laguna (Bolivia) is located in a volcanic caldera fed by active hot springs, with a carbonate crust extending over 40 km². An integrated approach based on geology and hydrochemistry was used to characterize La Salsa, one of its hydrothermal systems, composed of a flat mound with a hydrothermal discharge. The mound is composed of carbonate–diatom aggregates, forming muds that accumulate and undergo slight swelling. The discharge area along the hydrothermal pathway exhibits several facies and microfabrics, with considerable biological activity and microbialite development. Both the downstream evolution of carbonate and silica content in sediments and the distribution of microbialites can be linked to changes in biotic-abiotic processes occurring along the pathway. The spatial distribution of microbialites and their morphologies are related to hydrodynamic conditions, the nature of the substrate on which they grow and, to a lesser extent, to the accommodation space available. The evolution of the physicochemical properties of the water and biological activity mainly impact mineral precipitation but also affect microbialite morphologies and microstructures. This atypical Si- and Ca-rich hydrothermal system therefore provides insights into the diversity of environmental, chemical, and biotic factors controlling mineralization, which also responds to independent thermodynamic controls. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Microbialites: Preservation of Extant and Extinct Systems)

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33 pages, 30134 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Role of the Substrate on the Mineralization Potential of Microbial Mats in A Modern Freshwater River (Paris Basin, France)

by Adeline Roche, Emmanuelle Vennin, Irina Bundeleva, Anthony Bouton, Dahédrey Payandi-Rolland, Philippe Amiotte-Suchet, Eric C. Gaucher, Hélène Courvoisier and Pieter T. Visscher

Minerals 2019, 9(6), 359; https://doi.org/10.3390/min9060359 - 13 Jun 2019

Cited by 17 | Viewed by 5533

Abstract

The relationship between environmental conditions and the development, mineralization and preservation of modern tufa microbialites was investigated in a 1.1 km long freshwater stream in Villiers-le-Bâcle, a tributary of Mérantaise river. Detailed mapping of the tufa microbialite distribution combined with sedimentological, petrographical and mineralogical analyses were coupled with chemical measurements. Six organosedimentary structures were identified; their distribution appears heterogeneous along the stream and responds to physicochemical conditions of water and specific biological components (e.g., microorganism, exopolymeric substance). Two of the organosedimentary structures show evidence of mineralization and only one is lithified. Based on field observations and in-situ deployment of mineralization markers (bricks), three zones with increasing mineralization intensities are defined, ranging from no mineralization to thick mineralized crusts forming riverine tufa. Both biotic and abiotic processes were proposed for the tufa microbialite formation. We explained changes in mineralization intensities by the specific physicochemical conditions (e.g., calcite saturation index (SI_calc) and partial pressure of CO₂ (pCO₂) and a closed proximity of the cyanobacterial biofilm and carbonates precipitates. The physical and chemical composition of substrate impact development of microbial communities, mineralization potential of tufa microbialite. Even though the physicochemical and biological conditions were optimal for mineral precipitation, the potential of lithification depended on the presence of a suitable (physical and chemical) substrate. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Microbialites: Preservation of Extant and Extinct Systems)

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40 pages, 30674 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Jurassic Non-Carbonate Microbialites from the Betic-Rifian Cordillera (Tethys Western End): Textures, Mineralogy, and Environmental Reconstruction

by Matías Reolid and Isabel Abad

Minerals 2019, 9(2), 88; https://doi.org/10.3390/min9020088 - 30 Jan 2019

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 4937

Abstract

The term microbialite is commonly applied for describing carbonate organo-sedimentary deposits that have accreted as a result of the activity of benthic microbial communities (BMC). However, non-carbonate microbialites are progressively well-known and show a great diversity of organisms, processes, and mineralogical compositions. This article reviews three types of Jurassic microbialites from four different environmental contexts from the Betic-Rifian Cordillera (South Spain and North Morocco): marine hardgrounds, submarine caves, hydrothermal vents, and submarine volcanic deposits. The Middle-Late Jurassic transition in the External Subbetic (Betic Cordillera) and the Jbel Moussa Group (Rifian Calcareous Chain) was characterized by the fragmentation of the carbonate epicontinental platforms that favored these different settings: (A) Many stratigraphic breaks are recorded as hardgrounds with surficial hydrogenetic Fe crusts and macro-oncoids related to chemo-organotrophic behavior of BMC that served as a specific trap for Fe and Mn enrichment; (B) Cryptic hydrogenetic Fe-Mn crusts (or endostromatolites) grew in the walls of submarine cavities and fractures mainly constituted by Frutexites (chemosynthetic and cryptobiontic microorganism) locally associated to serpulids; (C) Hydrothermal Mn crusts are mainly constituted by different types of filaments and bacillus-shaped bacteria, whose mineralogy and geochemistry point to a submarine hydrothermal origin; (D) Finally, glauconite laminated crusts, constituted by branched cylindrical filaments, have grown in cryptic spaces among the pillow-lava bodies, probably related to the metabolism of chemo-organotrophic microbes under oxic conditions at temperatures between 30 and 90 °C. In most of the cases described in this work, microbial organisms forming microbialites were extremophiles. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Microbialites: Preservation of Extant and Extinct Systems)

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21 pages, 5234 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Contribution of Benthic Processes to the Growth of Ooids on a Low-Energy Shore in Cat Island, The Bahamas

by Giulio Mariotti, Sara B. Pruss, Roger E. Summons, Sharon A. Newman and Tanja Bosak

Minerals 2018, 8(6), 252; https://doi.org/10.3390/min8060252 - 14 Jun 2018

Cited by 25 | Viewed by 5637

Abstract

Ooids are typically found in frequently reworked coastal sediments, and are thought to accrete by inorganic chemical precipitation around moving grains. The high organic content and the presence of biosignatures, however, suggest that ooids interact with benthic microbial communities. Here, we investigate the role of benthic processes on ooid growth on a leeward shore of Cat Island, The Bahamas. Polished ooids are present in the surf zone, whereas dull ooids and grapestones are present in microbially colonized sediments seaward of the surf zone. Wave hydrodynamics and sediment transport modeling suggest that microbially colonized sediments are mobilized at monthly time scales. We propose a new conceptual model for both ooids and grapestone. Ooids rest and accrete in the area covered by microbial mats, but are periodically transported to the surf zone where wave abrasion polishes them within days. Ooids are then transported back to microbially colonized areas where the accretion cycle resumes. Ooids too large to be transported become trapped outside the surf zone, exit the “conveyor belt” and become grapestones. The benthic growth mechanism predicts petrographic characteristics that match observations: successive ooid laminae do not thin outward, laminae exhibit irregularities, and some ooids include multiple nuclei. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Microbialites: Preservation of Extant and Extinct Systems)

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50 pages, 45430 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperEditor’s ChoiceReview

The Record of Environmental and Microbial Signatures in Ancient Microbialites: The Terminal Carbonate Complex from the Neogene Basins of Southeastern Spain

by Raphaël Bourillot, Emmanuelle Vennin, Christophe Dupraz, Aurélie Pace, Anneleen Foubert, Jean-Marie Rouchy, Patricia Patrier, Philippe Blanc, Dominique Bernard, Julien Lesseur and Pieter T. Visscher

Minerals 2020, 10(3), 276; https://doi.org/10.3390/min10030276 - 19 Mar 2020

Cited by 15 | Viewed by 6788

Abstract

The Messinian microbialites of the Terminal Carbonate Complex (TCC) from the Neogene basins of southeastern Spain show both diversified morphologies and an excellent preservation of primary microbial microstructures. Their stratigraphic architecture, fabric (micro-, meso-, and macro-fabric), and mineralogical composition were investigated in eight localities from three sedimentary basins of southeastern Spain: The Sorbas and Bajo Segura basins and the Agua Amarga depression. Two recurrent microbialite associations were distinguished. Laterally linked low relief stromatolites predominated in Microbialite Association 1 (MA1), which probably formed in low energy lagoons or lakes with fluctuating normal marine to hypersaline water. The microfabrics of MA1 reflected the predominance of microbially induced/influenced precipitation of carbonates and locally (Ca)-Mg-Al silicates. Microbialite Association 2 (MA2) developed in high energy wave and tidal influenced foreshore to shoreface, in normal marine to hypersaline water. High-relief buildups surrounded by mobile sediment (e.g., ooids or pellets) dominated in this environment. MA2 microbialites showed a significant proportion of thrombolitic mesofabric. Grain-rich microfabrics indicated that trapping and binding played a significant role in their accretion, together with microbially induced/influenced carbonate precipitation. The stratigraphic distribution of MA1 and MA2 was strongly influenced by water level changes, the morphology and nature of the substratum, and exposure to waves. MA1 favorably developed in protected areas during third to fourth order early transgression and regression phases. MA2 mostly formed during the late transgressions and early regressions in high energy coastal areas, often corresponding to fossil coral reefs. Platform scale syn-sedimentary gypsum deformation and dissolution enhanced microbial carbonate production, microbialites being thicker and more extended in zones of maximum deformation/dissolution. Microbial microstructures (e.g., microbial peloids) and microfossils were preserved in the microbialites. Dolomite microspheres and filaments showed many morphological similarities with some of the cyanobacteria observed in modern open marine and hypersaline microbialites. Dolomite potentially replaced a metastable carbonate phase during early diagenesis, possibly in close relationship with extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) degradation. Double-layered microspheres locally showed an inner coating made of (Ca)-Mg-Al silicates and carbonates. This mineral coating could have formed around coccoid cyanobacteria and indicated an elevated pH in the upper part of the microbial mats and a potential dissolution of diatoms as a source of silica. Massive primary dolomite production in TCC microbialites may have resulted from enhanced sulfate reduction possibly linked to the dissolving gypsum that would have provided large amounts of sulfate-rich brines to microbial mats. Our results open new perspectives for the interpretation of ancient microbialites associated with major evaporite deposits, from microbe to carbonate platform scales. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Microbialites: Preservation of Extant and Extinct Systems)

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15 pages, 2102 KiB

Open AccessReview

Fossilised Biomolecules and Biomarkers in Carbonate Concretions from Konservat-Lagerstätten

by Kliti Grice, Alex I. Holman, Chloe Plet and Madison Tripp

Minerals 2019, 9(3), 158; https://doi.org/10.3390/min9030158 - 6 Mar 2019

Cited by 23 | Viewed by 7161

Abstract

In the vast majority of fossils, the organic matter is degraded with only an impression or cast of the organism remaining. In rare cases, ideal burial conditions result in a rapid fossilisation with an exceptional preservation of soft tissues and occasionally organic matter. Such deposits are known as Lagerstätten and have been found throughout the geological record. Exceptional preservation is often associated with finely crystalline quartz (e.g., cherts), fine sediments (e.g., muds) or volcanic ashes. Other mechanisms include burial in anoxic/euxinic sediments and in the absence of turbidity or scavenging. Exceptional preservation can also occur when an organism is encapsulated in carbonate cement, forming a concretion. This mechanism involves complex microbial processes, resulting in a supersaturation in carbonate, with microbial sulfate reduction and methane cycling the most commonly suggested processes. In addition, conditions of photic zone euxinia are often found to occur during concretion formation in marine environments. Concretions are ideal for the study of ancient and long-extinct organisms, through both imaging techniques and biomolecular approaches. These studies have provided valuable insights into the evolution of organisms and their environments through the Phanerozoic and have contributed to increasing interest in fields including chemotaxonomy, palaeobiology, palaeoecology and palaeophysiology. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Microbialites: Preservation of Extant and Extinct Systems)

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