Role of diatoms in the functioning of marine stromatolites
Stromatolites are ancient microbial systems, that first appeared in the fossil record at least three and a half billion years ago. Today they are found is shallow tropical seas, such as in the Bahamas and in Shark Bay, Australia. Stromatolites are a laminated mixture of sediment, precipitates and microbes, and represent the complex interactions of microbes, sediments and the environment. In this project, headed by Dr Pam Reid at the University of Miami, we are investigating the importance of diatoms as colonizers of cyanobacterial stromatolites, and the importance of the diatom EPS structures in the biogeochemistry of these complex microbial systems.
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