Mass occurrence of benthic coccoid cyanobacteria and their role in the production of Neoarchean carbonates of South Africa

Precambrian Research

Volumn 173, Issue 1-4, 2009, Pages 79-92

  Kazmierczak, Józef ^a   Altermann, Wladyslaw ^b,c   Kremer, Barbara ^a   Kempe, Stephan ^d   Eriksson, Patrick G ^b  

^a INSTITUTE OF PALEOBIOLOGY   (Poland)

^b UNIVERSITY OF PRETORIA   (South Africa)

^c UNIVERSITY OF MUNICH   (Germany)

^d DARMSTADT UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY   (Germany)

Author keywords

Benthic coccoid cyanobacteria; Campbellrand Subgroup; Neoarchean carbonate rocks; South Africa; Transvaal Supergroup

Indexed keywords

ARCHEAN; BENTHOS; CALCIUM CARBONATE; CARBONATE ROCK; CYANOBACTERIUM; FOSSIL RECORD; MICROFOSSIL; MINERALIZATION; SCANNING ELECTRON MICROSCOPY; SPECIES OCCURRENCE; STROMATOLITE;

AFRICA; SOUTH AFRICA; SOUTHERN AFRICA; SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA;

CHROOCOCCALES; COCCOIDEA; CYANOBACTERIA; PLEUROCAPSALES;

EID: 67650763183     PISSN: 03019268     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1016/j.precamres.2009.02.002     Document Type: Article

References (97)

1. Allwood A.C., Walter M.R., Kamber B.S., Marshall C.P., and Burch I.W. Stromatolite reef from the early Archean era of Australia. Nature 441 (2006) 714-718
2. Altermann W. Sedimentology, geochemistry and palaeogeographic implications of volcanic rocks in the Upper Archaean Campbell Group, western Kaapvaal Craton, South Africa. Precambr. Res. 78 (1996) 73-100
3. Altermann W. Sedimentological evaluation of Pb-Zn Potential of the Precambrian Griquatown Fault Zone in the northern Cape Province, South Africa. Miner. Dep. 32 (1997) 382-391
4. Altermann, W., 2002. The evolution of life and its impact on sedimentation. In: Altermann, W., Corcoran, P.L. (Eds.), Precambrian Sedimentary Environments: A Modern Approach to Ancient Depositional Systems. Spec. Publ. Intern. Ass. of Sedim. 33, pp. 15-32.
5. Altermann W. Evolving life and its effect on Precambrian sedimentation. In: Eriksson P.G., Altermann W., Nelson D.R., Mueller W., and Catuneanu O. (Eds). The Precambrian Earth: Tempos and Events. Develop. in Precambr. Geol. (2004), Elsevier, Amsterdam 539-545
6. Altermann W. Accretion, trapping and binding of sediment in Archean stromatolites-morphological expression of the antiquity of life. Space Sci. Rev. 135 (2008) 55-79
7. Altermann W. From fossils to astrobiology-a roadmap to a fata morgana?. In: Seckbach J., and Walsh M. (Eds). From Fossils to Astrobiology (COLE) vol. 12 (2009), Springer, Dordrecht pp. xv-xxvii
8. Altermann W., and Herbig H.-G. Tidal flat deposits of the Lower Proterozoic Campbell Group along the southwestern margin of the Kaapvaal Craton, Northern Cape Province, South Africa. J. Afr. Earth Sci. 13 (1991) 415-435
9. Altermann W., and Kazmierczak J. Archean microfossils: a reappraisal of early life on Earth. Res. Microbiol. 154 (2003) 611-617
10. Altermann W., and Nelson D.R. Sedimentation rates, basin analysis and regional correlations of three Noearchean and Palaeoproterozoic sub-basins of the Kaapvaal craton as inferred from precise U-Pb zircon ages from volcanoclastic sediments. Sed. Geol. 120 (1998) 225-256
11. Altermann W., and Schopf J.W. Microfossils from the Neoarchean Campbell Group, Griqualand West Sequence of the Transvaal Supergroup, and their paleoenvironmental and evolutionary implications. Precambr. Res. 75 (1995) 65-90
12. Altermann W., and Siegfried H.P. Sedimentology and facies development of an Archean shelf-carbonate platform transition in the Kaapvaal Craton, as deduced from a deep borehole at Kathu, South Africa. J. Afr. Earth Sci. 24 (1997) 391-410
13. Altermann W., and Wotherspoon J.McD. The carbonates of the Transvaal and Griqualand West Sequences of the Kaapvaal craton, with special reference to the Lime Acres limestone deposit. Miner. Dep. 30 (1995) 124-134
14. Altermann W., Kazmierczak J., Oren A., and Wright D.T. Cyanobacterial calcification and its rock-building potential during 3.5 billion years of Earth history. Geobiology 4 (2006) 147-166
15. Arp G., Reimer A., and Reitner J. Photosynthesis-induced biofilm calcification and calcium concentrations in Phanerozoic oceans. Science 292 (2001) 1701-1704
16. Barker W.W., and Banfield J.F. Zones of chemical and physical interaction at interfaces between microbial communities and minerals: a model. Geomicrobiol. J. 15 (1998) 223-244
17. Benzerara S.T., Menguy N., López-Garcia P., Tae-Huyn Yoon, Kazmierczak J., Tyliszczak T., Guyot F., and Brown Jr. E.J. Nanoscale detection of organic signatures in carbonate microbialites. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 103 (2006) 9440-9445
18. Beukes N.J. Facies relations, depositional environments and diagenesis in a major Early Proterozoic stromatolitic carbonate platform to basinal sequence, Campbellrand Subgroup, Transvaal Supergroup, Southern Africa. Sed. Geol. 54 (1987) 1-46
19. 3 precipitation. Sedimentology 53 (2006) 1049-1068
20. Boone, D.R., Castenholz, R.W. (Eds.), 2001. Vol. 1: The Archaea and the Deeply Branching and Phototrophic Bacteria. In: G.M. Garrity (Ed.), Bergey's Manual of Systematic Bacteriology, 2nd ed. Springer, New York, p. 721.
21. Brennan S.T., Lowenstein T.K., and Horita J. Seawater chemistry and the advent of biocalcification. Geology 32 (2004) 473-476
22. Brocks J.J., Logan G.A., Buick R., and Summons R.E.Q. Archean molecular fossils and the early rise of eukaryotes. Science 285 (1999) 1033-1036
23. Brocks J.J., Buick R., Summons R.E., and Logan G.A. A reconstruction of biological diversity based on molecular fossils from the 2.78 to 2.45 billion-year-old Mount Bruce Supergroup, Hamersley Basin, Western Australia. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 67 (2003) 4321-4335
24. Brocks J.J., Grosjean E., and Logan G.A. Assessing biomarker syngeneity using branched alkanes with Quarternary carbon (BAQCs) and other plastic contaminants. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 72 (2008) 871-888
25. Buick R. Microfossil recognition in Archean rocks: an appraisal of spheroids and filaments from a 3500 My old chert-barite unit at North Pole, Western Australia. Palaios 5 (1991) 441-459
26. Decho A.W. Microbial biofilms in intertidal systems: an overview. Cont. Shelf Res. 20 (2000) 1257-1273
27. Decho A.W., and Herndl G.J. Microbial activities and the transformation of organic matter within mucilaginous material. Sci. Total Environ. 165 (1995) 33-42
28. Douglas S., and Beveridge T.J. Mineral formation by bacteria in natural microbial communities. FEMS Microbiol. Ecol. 26 (1998) 79-88
29. Dumas S., and Arnott R.W.C. Origin of hummocky and swaley cross-stratification-the controlling influence of unidirectional current strength and aggradation rate. Geology 34 (2006) 1073-1076
30. Dupraz C., and Visscher P.T. Microbial lithification in marine stromatolites and hypersaline mats. Trends Microbiol. 13 (2005) 429-438
31. Eigenbrode J.L., Freeman K.H., and Summons R.E. Methylhopane biomarker hydrocarbons in Hamersley Province sediments provide evidence for Neoarchean aerobiosis. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 273 (2008) 323-331
32. Eriksson K.A., and Truswell J.F. Tidal flat associations from the lower Proterozoic carbonate sequence in South Africa. Sedimentology 21 (1974) 293-309
33. Eriksson P.G., Altermann W., and Hartzer F.J. The Transvaal Supergroup and Precursors. In: Johnson M.R., Annhaeusser C.R., and Thomas R.J. (Eds). The Geology of South Africa (2006), Geol. Society of South Africa pp. 237-260 (Chapter 10)
34. Ferris F.G., Fyfe W.S., and Beveridge T.J. Bacteria as nucleation sites for authigenic minerals in a metal contaminated lake sediment. Chem. Geol. 63 (1987) 225-232
35. Fortin D., Ferris F.G., and Beveridge T.J. Surface-mediated mineral development by bacteria. In: Banfield J.F., and Nealson K.H. (Eds). Geomicrobiology: Interactions between Microbes and Minerals vol. 35 (1997), Rev. Miner. pp. 161-180
36. Geesey G.G., and Jang L. Interactions between metal ions and capsular polymers. In: Beveridge T.J., and Doyle R.J. (Eds). Metal Ions and Bacteria (1989), J. Wiley and Sons, New York 325-358
37. Glikson M., Duck L.J., Golding S.D., Hofmann A., Bolhar R., Webb R., Baiano J.C.F., and Sly L.I. Microbial remains in some earliest Earth rocks: comparison with a potential modern analogue. Precambr. Res. 164 (2008) 187-200
38. Grotzinger J.P. Facies and evolution of Precambrian carbonate depositional systems: emergence of the modern platform archetype. SEPM Spec. Publ. 44 (1989) 79-106
39. Hardie L.A. Secular variation in seawater chemistry: an explanation for the coupled secular variation in the mineralogies of marine limestones and potash evaporites over the past 600 m.y. Geology 24 (1996) 279-283
40. Hardie L.A. Secular variations in Precambrian seawater chemistry and the timing of Precambrian aragonite seas and calcite seas. Geology 31 (2003) 785-788
41. Hay W.H. Carbonate sedimentation through the late Precambrian and Phanerozoic. Zbl. Geol. Paläont. 1 5-6 (1999) 435-445
42. Hofmann H.J., Grey K., Hickman A.H., and Thorpe R.I. Origin of 3.45 Ga coniform stromatolites in Warrawoona Group, Western Australia. Geol. Soc. Am. Bull. 111 (1999) 1256-1262
43. Horodyski R.J. Middle Proterozoic shale-facies microbiota from the Lower Belt Supergroup, Little Belt Mountains, Montana. J. Paleont. 54 (1980) 649-663
44. Horodyski R.J., and Vonder Haar S. Recent calcareous stromatolites from Laguna Mormona, Baja California, Mexico. J. Sed. Petrol. 45 (1975) 894-906
45. Kazmierczak J., and Altermann W. Neoarchean biomineralisation by benthic cyanobacteria. Science 298 (2002) 2351
46. Kazmierczak J., and Iryu Y. Cyanobacterial origin of microcrystalline cements from Pleistocene rhodoliths and coralline algal crusts of Okierabu-jima, Japan. Acta Palaeont. Pol. 44 (1999) 117-130
47. Kazmierczak J., and Kempe S. Microbialite formation in seawater of increased alkalinity, Satonda Crater Lake, Indonesia. J. Sedim. Res. 74 (2004) 314-317 (Discussion)
48. Kazmierczak J., and Kempe S. Genuine modern analogues of Precambrian stromatolites from caldera lakes of Niuafo'ou Island, Tonga. Naturwissenschaften 93 (2006) 119-126
49. Kazmierczak J., Ittekkot V., and Degens E.T. Biocalcification through time: environmental challenge and cellular response. Paläont. Zschr. 59 (1985) 15-33
50. Kazmierczak J., Coleman M.L., Gruszczynski M., and Kempe S. Cyanobacterial key to the genesis of micritic and peloidal limestones in ancient seas. Acta Palaeont. Pol. 41 (1996) 319-338
51. Kazmierczak J., Kempe S., and Altermann W. Microbial origin of Precambrian carbonates: lessons from modern analogues. In: Eriksson P.G., Altermann W., Nelson D.R., Mueller W., and Catuneanu O. (Eds). The Precambrian Earth: Tempos and Events (2004), Elsevier, Amsterdam 545-563
52. Kempe S. Alkalinity: the link between anaerobic basins and shallow water carbonates?. Naturwissenschaften 77 (1990) 426-427
53. Kempe S., and Degens E.T. An early soda ocean?. Chem. Geol. 53 (1985) 95-108
54. Kempe S., and Kazmierczak J. Calcium carbonate supersaturation and the formation of in situ calcified stromatolites. In: Ittekkot V.A., Kempe S., Michaelis W., and Spitzy A. (Eds). Facets of Modern Biogeochemistry (1990), Springer, Berlin 255-278
55. Kempe S., and Kazmierczak J. Satonda Crater Lake, Indonesia: hydrogeochemistry and biocarbonates. Facies 28 (1993) 1-32
56. Kempe, S., Kazmierczak, J., 1994. The role of alkalinity in the evolution of ocean chemistry, organization of living systems, and biocalcification processes. In: Doumenge, F. (Ed.), Past and Present Biomineralization Processes-Considerations about Carbonate Cycle. Bull. l'Inst. Océanogr., Monaco, Num. Spéc. 13, pp. 61-117.
57. Kempe S., and Kazmierczak J. Hydrochemical key to the genesis of calcareous nonlaminated and laminated cyanobacterial microbialites. In: Seckbach J. (Ed). Algae and Cyanobacteria in Extreme Environments (2007), Springer, Dordrecht 241-264
58. Kempe S., Kazmierczak J., Konuk T., Landmann G., Reimer A., and Lipp A. Largest known microbialites discovered in Lake Van, Turkey. Nature 394 (1991) 605-608
59. Kiefer, R. 1995. Die Gesteine des südlichen Kaapvaal Kratons im Raum Prieska, Südafrika. Sedimentologische Untersuchungen und Faziesinterpretation der neoarchaischen Karbonate der Nauga Formation, Griqualand West Sequenz. Unpubl. Dipl. Thesis, IAAG, LMU, München, 128 pp.
60. Klein C., Beukes N.J., and Schopf J.W. Filamentous microfossils in the early Proterozoic Transvaal Supergroup: their morphology, significance and palaeoenvironmental setting. Precambr. Res. 36 (1987) 81-94
61. Komárek, J., Anagnostidis, K., 1999. Cyanoprokaryota. 1. Teil Chroococcales. In: Ettl, H., Gärtner, H., Heynig, G.H., Mollenhauer, D. (Eds.), Süßwasserflora von Mitteleuropa, Bd. 19/1, Gustav Fischer, Jena, 548 pp.
62. Konhauser K., Schultze-Lam S., Ferris F.G., Fyfe W.S., Longstaffe F.J., and Beveridge T.J. Mineral precipitation by epilithic biofilms in the Speed River, Ontario, Canada. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 60 (1994) 549-553
63. Kremer B. Mat-forming coccoid cyanobacteria from early Silurian marine deposits of Sudetes, Poland. Acta Paleontol. Pol. 51 (2006) 143-154
64. Kremer B., Kazmierczak J., and Stal L.J. Calcium carbonate precipitation in cyanobacterial mats from sandy tidal flats of the North Sea. Geobiology 6 (2008) 46-56
65. Krumbein W.E., and Swart P.K. The microbial carbon cycle. In: Krumbein W.E. (Ed). Microbial Geochemistry (1983), Blackwell Sci. Publ., Oxford 5-62
66. Kühl M., Fenchel T., and Kazmierczak J. Structure, function, and calcification potential of artificial cyanobacterial mats. In: Krumbein W.E., Paterson D., and Zavarzin G. (Eds). Fossil and Recent Biofilms-A Natural History of Life on Earth (2003), Kluver Acad. Publ., Dordrecht 77-102
67. Lange W. Enhancement of algal growth in cyanophyta-bacteria systems by carbonaceous compounds. Can. J. Microbiol. 17 (1971) 303-314
68. Lanier W.P. Approximate growth rates of Early Proterozoic microstromatolites as deduced by biomass productivity. Palaios 1 (1986) 525-542
69. Loewenstein T.K., Timofeeff M.N., Brennan S.T., Hardie L.A., and Demicco R.V. Oscillations in Phanerozoic seawater chemistry: evidence from fluid inclusions. Science 294 (2001) 1086-1088
70. López-Garcia P., Kazmierczak J., Benzerara K., Kempe S., Guyot F., and Moreira D. Bacterial diversity and carbonate precipitation in the microbialites of the highly alkaline Lake Van, Turkey. Extremophiles 9 (2005) 263-274
71. Mazzullo S.J. Organogenic dolomitization in peritidal to deep-sea sediments. J. Sed. Res. 70 (2000) 10-23
72. McKeegan K.D., Kudryavtsev A.B., and Schopf J.W. Raman and ion microscopic imagery of graphitic inclusions in apatite from >3830 Ma Akilia supracrustals, West Greenland. Geology 35 (2007) 591-594
73. Miyano T., and Beukes N.J. Phase relations of stilpnomelane, ferri-annite, and riebeckite in very low grade metamorphosed iron-formations. Trans. Geol. Soc. S. Afr. 87 (1984) 111-124
74. Mojzsis S.J., Arrhenius G., McKeegan K.D., Harrison T.M., Nutman A.P., and Friend C.R.L. Evidence for life on Earth before 3,800 million years ago. Nature 384 (1996) 55-59
75. Nelson D.R., Trendall A.F., and Altermann W. Chronological correlations between the Pilbara and Kaapvaal cratons. Precambr. Res. 97 (1999) 165-189
76. Paerl H.W., Steppe T.F., and Reid R.P. Bacterially mediated precipitation in marine stromatolites. Environ. Microbiol. 3 (2001) 123-130
77. Rasmussen B., Fletcher I.R., Brocks J.J., and Kilburn M.R. Reassessing the first appearance of eukaryotes and cyanobacteria. Nature 455 (2008) 1101-1104
78. Riding R. Cyanophyte calcification and changes in ocean chemistry. Nature 299 (1982) 814-815
79. 13C Depleted carbon microparticles in >3700 Ma sea-floor sedimentary rocks from west Greenland. Science 283 (1999) 674-676
80. Schopf J.W. The oldest fossils and what they mean. In: Schopf J.W., and Klein C. (Eds). Major Events in the History of Life (1992), Jones and Bartlett, Boston 29-64
81. Schopf J.W. Earth's earliest biosphere: status of the hunt. In: Eriksson P.G., Altermann W., Nelson D.R., Mueller W., and Catuneanu O. (Eds). The Precambrian Earth: Tempos and Events. Develop. Precambr. Geol. (2004), Elsevier, Amsterdam 516-538
82. Schopf J.W., Kudryavtsev A.B., Czaja A.D., and Tripathi B. Evidence of Archean life: stromatolites and microfossils. Precambr. Res. 158 (2007) 141-155
83. Schultze-Lam S., Urrutia M.M., and Beveridge T.J. Metal and silicate sorption and subsequent mineral formation on bacterial surfaces: subsurface implications. In: Allen H.E. (Ed). Metal Contaminated Aquatic Sediments (1995), Ann Arbor Press, Chelsea 111-147
84. Silva S.M.F., and Pienaar R.N. Benthic marine cyanophyceae from Kwa-Zulu Natal, South Africa. Bibliotheca Phycologica vol. 107 (2000), J. Cramer, Berlin 456
85. Stal L.J. Cyanobacterial mats and stromatolites. In: Whitton B.A., and Potts M. (Eds). The Ecology of Cyanobacteria (2000), Kluver Acad. Publ., Dordrecht 61-120
86. Stal L.J., and Reed R.H. Low-molecular carbohydrate accumulation in cyanobacteria from a marine microbial mat in response to salt. FEMS Microbiol. Ecol. 45 (1987) 305-312
87. Stanley S.M. Influence of seawater chemistry on biomineralization throughout phanerozoic time: paleontological and experimental evidence. Palaeogeogr. Palaeoclim. Palaeoecol. 232 (2006) 214-236
88. Stanley S.M., and Hardie L.A. Secular oscillations in the carbonate mineralogy of reef-building and sediment-producing organisms driven by tectonically forced shifts in seawater chemistry. Palaeogeogr. Palaeoclim. Palaeoecol. 144 (1998) 3-19
89. Sumner D.Y. Decimetre-thick encrustations of calcite and aragonite on the sea-floor and implications for Neoarchean and Neoproterozoic ocean chemistry. In: Altermann W., and Corcoran P.L. (Eds). Precambrian Sedimentary Environments: a modern approach to ancient depositional systems (2002), Blackwell, Oxford 107-122 (I.A.S. Spec. Publ., vol. 33)
90. Sumner D.Y., and Grotzinger J.P. Late Archean aragonite precipitation: petrography, facies associations, and environmental significance. In: Grotzinger J.P., and James N.P. (Eds). Carbonate Sedimentation and Diagenesis in the Evolving Precambrian World (2000) 123-144 (SEPM Spec. Publ., vol. 67)
91. Sumner D.Y., and Grotzinger J.P. Implications for Neoarchean ocean chemistry from primary carbonate mineralogy of the Campbellrand-Malmani Platform, South Africa. Sedimentology 51 (2004) 1273-1299
92. Tazaki K. Biomineralization of layer silicates and hydrated Fe/Mn oxides in microbial mats: an electron microscopical study. Clays Clay Miner. 45 (1997) 203-212
93. Tice M.M., and Lowe D.R. Photosynthetic microbial mats in the 3,416-Myr-old ocean. Nature 431 (2004) 549-552
94. Urrutia M.M., and Beveridge T.J. Formation of fine-grained silicate minerals and metal precipitates by a bacterial surface (Bacillus subtilis) and the implications in the global cycling of silicon. Chem. Geol. 116 (1994) 261-280
95. Walraven F., and Martini J. Zircon-Pb-evaporation age determination of the Oak Tree Formation, Chuniespoort Gropup, Transvaal Griqualand West basin correlations. S. Afr. J. Geol. 98 (1995) 58-67
96. Wetzel A., and Allia V. The significance of hiatus beds in shallow-water mudstones: an example from the Middle Jurassic of Switzerland. J. Sed. Res. 70 (2000) 170-180
97. Wright, D.T., Altermann, W., 2000. Microfacies development in late Archaean stromatolites and oolites of the Campbellrand Subgroup, South Africa, In: Insalco, E., Skelton, P.W., Palmer, T.J. (Eds.), Carbonate Platform Systems. Components and Interactions. Geol. Soc. London, Special Publication 178, pp. 51-70.