Estuarine biofilm patterns: modern analogues for Precambrian selfâorganization
van de Vijsel, R.C.; van Belzen, J.; Bouma, T.J.; van der Wal, D.; Cusseddu, V.; Purkis, S.J.; Rietkerk, M.; van de Koppel, J. (2020). Estuarine biofilm patterns: modern analogues for Precambrian selfâorganization. Earth Surf. Process. Landforms 45(5): 1141-1154. https://dx.doi.org/10.1002/esp.4783
Additional data:
In: Earth Surface Processes and Landforms: the Journal of the British Geomorphological Research Group. John Wiley/Wiley: Chichester, Sussex; New York. ISSN 0197-9337; e-ISSN 1096-9837, more
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Keywords |
Marine/Coastal; Brackish water; Fresh water |
Author keywords |
biogeomorphology; long-term morphodynamics; ridges and runnels; bedforms; biostabilization; biofilms; algal mats; self-organization; autogenic dynamics; stromatolites; microbially induced sedimentary structures; microbialites; sedimentary record; paleoenvironment |
Authors | | Top |
- van de Vijsel, R.C., more
- van Belzen, J., more
- Bouma, T.J., more
- van der Wal, D., more
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- Cusseddu, V.
- Purkis, S.J.
- Rietkerk, M.
- van de Koppel, J., more
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Abstract |
This field and laboratory study examines whether regularly patterned biofilms on presentâday intertidal flats are equivalent to microbially induced bedforms found in geological records dating back to the onset of life on Earth. Algal mats of filamentous Vaucheria species, functionally similar to microbial biofilms, cover the topographic highs of regularly spaced ridgeârunnel bedforms. As regular patterning is typically associated with selfâorganization processes, indicators of selfâorganization are tested and found to support this hypothesis. The measurements suggest that biofilmâinduced sediment trapping and biostabilization enhance bedform relief, strength and multiâyear persistence. This demonstrates the importance of primitive organisms for sedimentary landscape development. Algalâcovered ridges consist of wavyâcrinkly laminated sedimentary deposits that resemble the layered structure of fossil stromatolites and microbially induced sedimentary structures. In addition to layering, both the morphological pattern and the suggested formation mechanism of the recent bedforms are strikingly similar to microbialite strata found in rock records from the Precambrian onwards. This implies that selfâorganization was an important morphological process in times when biofilms were the predominant sessile ecosystem. These findings furthermore emphasize that selfâorganization dynamics, such as critical transitions invoking ecosystem emergence or collapse, might have been captured in fossil microbialites, influencing their laminae. This notion may be important for paleoenvironmental reconstructions based on such strata. |
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