DrmDoc Posted March 14, 2017 Share Posted March 14, 2017 According to this National Geographic video, London scientists have discovered the oldest known "mircofossils". At about half the width of a human hair, scientists say these fossils are of organisms that fed on minerals expelled from sea flood hydrothermal vents about 3.8 to 4.3 billion years ago. Enjoy! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrP Posted March 14, 2017 Share Posted March 14, 2017 I have a piece of strombolite which is about 2 or 3 BYO. Interesting stuff about them feeding off the iron in the thermal vents. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Argent Posted March 15, 2017 Share Posted March 15, 2017 I have a piece of strombolite which is about 2 or 3 BYO. Interesting stuff about them feeding off the iron in the thermal vents. Strombolite is a carbonate mineral. I presume you meant stromatolite. The full Nature article is available here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrP Posted March 15, 2017 Share Posted March 15, 2017 (edited) No - I have some Strombolite, which is fossilised algae. Looking up that stromatolite it suggests that that is micro fossil rock formed from bacteria. Edited March 15, 2017 by DrP Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Argent Posted March 15, 2017 Share Posted March 15, 2017 No - I have some Strombolite, which is fossilised algae. Looking up that stromatolite it suggests that that is micro fossil rock formed from bacteria. The only online links I have found so far to Strombolite were New Age mumbo-jumbo about "healing crystals". In some of these they note it is composed of the mineral Spurrite. That does produce a wealth of online information. Everything I have looked at so far says it is produced by thermal metamorphism of carbonates. That makes perfect sense. I am not saying you are mistaken, there are probably thousands of obscure rocks and minerals whose names I do not know, so I would be interested to have some reference to their identification as fossilised algae. When I search for Strombolite and Algae the only returns I see are for Stromatolite. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrP Posted March 15, 2017 Share Posted March 15, 2017 (edited) It is not impossible that it is another name for the same or a similar thing. It is definitely supposed to be fossilised algae though (2.5 to 3.5 BYO) - not micro fossil bacteria. I'll check it out later when I am not a work and try to find a link with info about it for you. I bought it in a fossil shop and the guy is not a new age type - he is a serious fossil guy. I think my sample is Australian. Edited March 15, 2017 by DrP Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrmDoc Posted March 15, 2017 Author Share Posted March 15, 2017 The only online links I have found so far to Strombolite were New Age mumbo-jumbo about "healing crystals". In some of these they note it is composed of the mineral Spurrite. That does produce a wealth of online information. Everything I have looked at so far says it is produced by thermal metamorphism of carbonates. That makes perfect sense. I am not saying you are mistaken, there are probably thousands of obscure rocks and minerals whose names I do not know, so I would be interested to have some reference to their identification as fossilised algae. When I search for Strombolite and Algae the only returns I see are for Stromatolite. I think what DrP is referencing here are Dasycladales fossils, which is a type of green algae. According to this Berkley reference, "Dasycladales has perhaps the best-known fossil record of any group of green algae." Dasycladales, as this reference provides, "secrete lime (calcium carbonate) which increases their chances for preservation and later discovery as fossils." As you have referenced, Strombolite is "produced by thermal metamorphism of carbonates." I've read that one fossil sample was dated at nearly 2 billion years old. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Argent Posted March 15, 2017 Share Posted March 15, 2017 I think what DrP is referencing here are Dasycladales fossils, which is a type of green algae. According to this Berkley reference, "Dasycladales has perhaps the best-known fossil record of any group of green algae." Dasycladales, as this reference provides, "secrete lime (calcium carbonate) which increases their chances for preservation and later discovery as fossils." As you have referenced, Strombolite is "produced by thermal metamorphism of carbonates." I've read that one fossil sample was dated at nearly 2 billion years old. Interesting, but Strombolite is composed of the mineral spurrite, which is a silicified carbonate. There is no mention in your two references (thank you for those) that mentions Strombolite. I imagine it would be possible for a fossilised Dasycladales to be subject to thermal metamorphism and converted to Strombolite. What I am doubting thus far is that Strombolite equates to fossilised algae. Perhaps Dr. P's fossil salesman intended to say "here are some fossil algae preserved in strombolite". Sorry to divert your thread DrmDoc, but I'm not going to forget this name and I want to be sure I'm associating it with the correct thing. I'm quite nerdy about things like that. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrmDoc Posted March 15, 2017 Author Share Posted March 15, 2017 Interesting, but Strombolite is composed of the mineral spurrite, which is a silicified carbonate. There is no mention in your two references (thank you for those) that mentions Strombolite. I imagine it would be possible for a fossilised Dasycladales to be subject to thermal metamorphism and converted to Strombolite. What I am doubting thus far is that Strombolite equates to fossilised algae. Perhaps Dr. P's fossil salesman intended to say "here are some fossil algae preserved in strombolite". Sorry to divert your thread DrmDoc, but I'm not going to forget this name and I want to be sure I'm associating it with the correct thing. I'm quite nerdy about things like that. I did some checking and I think you're right. All relevant citations I've reviewed referenced Strombolites as the rock in which Cambrian and Precambrian fossils were found. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Argent Posted March 15, 2017 Share Posted March 15, 2017 I did some checking and I think you're right. All relevant citations I've reviewed referenced Strombolites as the rock in which Cambrian and Precambrian fossils were found. You seem to be saying the reverse of what I am saying. While acknowledging the possibility that Strombolites may contain fossils, I am stating that the only evidence to that effect is Dr. P's reported comments from a fossil seller. You say you have read citations that mention Strombolites as containing fossils. Please post a couple of those. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrmDoc Posted March 15, 2017 Author Share Posted March 15, 2017 (edited) You seem to be saying the reverse of what I am saying. While acknowledging the possibility that Strombolites may contain fossils, I am stating that the only evidence to that effect is Dr. P's reported comments from a fossil seller. You say you have read citations that mention Strombolites as containing fossils. Please post a couple of those. Although not a peer reviewed reference, I recall this comment in the Fossil Forum and, if I understand correctly, the respondent discusses finding "a variety of fossils such as Ammonites and other anomalies" in split Strombolite rock. I also referenced Spurrite as you have informed. From my understanding of this Spurrite reference, this rock is formed "as mafic magma intrudes into carbonate rock" that can comprise limestone containing remains of marine organisms, which suggests to me the potential for Strombolite rocks contain marine fossils. In addition, I found these images that appear to show marine fossils comprised of Strombolite. Whether this rock contains fossils is, perhaps, not very clear but, in my opinion, there seems to be some evidence of that potential.. Edited March 15, 2017 by DrmDoc 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrP Posted March 16, 2017 Share Posted March 16, 2017 Hey - I am sorry for the confusion, but I think you are right Argent. This must be Stromatolite. Forgive me, I remembered it as Strombolite or I wrote it down wrong in the shop. It is pretty amazing to think of it as billions of years old though and some of the earliest life forms on the planet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrmDoc Posted March 16, 2017 Author Share Posted March 16, 2017 (edited) Hey - I am sorry for the confusion, but I think you are right Argent. This must be Stromatolite. Forgive me, I remembered it as Strombolite or I wrote it down wrong in the shop. It is pretty amazing to think of it as billions of years old though and some of the earliest life forms on the planet. During my search for Strombolite references many, interestingly, came back "Did you mean Stromatolite?" Good thing is now I know more about Strombolites than I did before this discussion. So, thank you. Edited March 16, 2017 by DrmDoc 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrP Posted March 16, 2017 Share Posted March 16, 2017 Thanks - I did cringe as I know it was suggested that I had got the name wrong - then the 2 of you done loads of reading and research about it - I felt quite guilty for wasting your time - so thank you again for being so mature about it. We did learn something about strombolite as you said, so hopefully it wasn't a waste of time. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Argent Posted March 16, 2017 Share Posted March 16, 2017 Thanks - I did cringe as I know it was suggested that I had got the name wrong - then the 2 of you done loads of reading and research about it - I felt quite guilty for wasting your time - so thank you again for being so mature about it. We did learn something about strombolite as you said, so hopefully it wasn't a waste of time. It was most assuredly not a waste of time. I was unfamiliar with strombolite/spurrite, so I learned that and I was able to get confirmation that stromatolite was the correct term. Now we can return to the main thrust of the OP. which generates two sets of thoughts for me. I'll aim to express them when they are clearer in my mind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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