5" Paleoproterozoic Stromatolite (Eucapsiphora) Slab - Australia

Paleoproterozoic Stromatolite (Eucapsiphora) Slab - Australia #239964

This is a 5" wide, polished slab of a Paleoproterozoic-aged, columnar stromatolite (Eucapsiphora leakensis) from the Mount Leake Formation of Western Australia. This formation has been dated to approximately 1.785 billion years old. These stromatolites likely grew in a sandy tidal flat or braided river channel.

Stromatolites are the layered trace fossils of microbial life, primarily cyanobacteria. Some of them date back an astounding 3.4 billion years, making them the oldest record of life on Earth! Stromatolites and Microbialites were typically formed in shallow water by the growth of layer upon layer of cyanobacteria, a single-celled, photosynthesizing microbe. These layers often form very beautiful and colorful banded structures in the rock.

These oxygen-producing cyanobacteria were so simple they lacked a DNA-packaging nucleus, but were responsible for possibly the largest changes the earth has undergone. They were the only major source of atmospheric oxygen critical for the development of more complex life.