DOI: 10.1038/NGEO2229
论文题名: Microbial shaping of sedimentary wrinkle structures
作者: Mariotti G. ; Pruss S.B. ; Perron J.T. ; Bosak T.
刊名: Nature Geoscience
ISSN: 17520894
出版年: 2014
卷: 7, 期: 10 起始页码: 736
结束页码: 740
语种: 英语
英文摘要: Wrinkle structures on sandy bed surfaces were present in some of the earliest sedimentary environments, but are rare in modern environments1. These enigmatic millimetre-to centimetre-scale ridges or pits are particularly common in sediments that harbour trace fossils and imprints of early animals2, and appeared in the aftermath of some large mass extinctions3. Wrinkle structures have been interpreted as possible remnants of microbial mats, but the formation mechanism and associated palaeoenvironmental and palaeoecological implications of these structures remain debated4-7. Here we show that microbial aggregates can form wrinkle structures on a bed of bare sand in wave tank experiments. Waves with a small orbital amplitude at the bed surface do not move sand grains directly. However, they move millimetre-size, light microbial fragments and thereby produce linear sand ridges and rounded scour pits at the wavelengths observed in nature within hours. We conclude that wrinkle structures are morphological biosignatures that form at the sediment-water interface in wave-dominated environments, and not beneath microbial mats as previously thought4-7. Duringearly animalevolution, grazingbyeukaryotic organisms may have temporarily increased the abundance of microbial fragments and thus the production of wrinkle structures. © 2014 Macmillan Publishers Limited. All rights reserved. Citation statistics:
资源类型: 期刊论文
标识符: http://119.78.100.158/handle/2HF3EXSE/106405
Appears in Collections: 气候减缓与适应 科学计划与规划
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作者单位: MIT, Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, Cambridge, MA, United States; Smith College, Department of Geosciences, Northampton, MA, United States
Recommended Citation:
Mariotti G.,Pruss S.B.,Perron J.T.,et al. Microbial shaping of sedimentary wrinkle structures[J]. Nature Geoscience,2014-01-01,7(10)