Unusual Copper Harbor Proterozoic Stromatolites

Proterozoic Stromatolites

(Hand Polished)

Geologic Time: Middle Proterozoic

Size (25.4mm=1 inch): 225 mm by 120 mm (maximum)

Fossil Site: Copper Harbor Conglomerate, Keweenan Series, Upper Peninsula, Michigan

Fossil Code: ST070

Price: Sold


Copper Harbor Proterozoic StromatolitesDescription: The Copper Harbor Conglomerate is the basal part of the sediment-dominated Keweenan Series. This sedimentary sequence was deposited within the central basin of the Mid-Continental Rift system over a billion years ago. All sedimentary features of the conglomerate support a non-marine depositional environment. Clayey layers within the upper portion of the deposit support the hypothesis that the region possessed ephemeral playa lakes. Some of the lacustrine deposits contain finely-laminated stromatolitic structures.

Given that most fossil and modern stromatolites are found in near-shore marine settings, just how did stromatolites form in a region believed to have been some 800 km from the sea of the time? Researchers studying the deposit invoke what they term akinete anemochory, or wind-borne transport of dormant reproductive structures.

The Copper Harbor Conglomerates preserve one of the few known records of a terrestrial biological community, and provide a glimpse of an early stage of the colonization of a barren landscape. Aeolian transport of microbes may have been an important factor in the colonization of the Proterozoic landscape; the answer is blowing in the wind!

Also see: Stromatolites

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