TY - JOUR

T1 - Arumberiamorph structure in modern microbial mats

T2 - Implications for Ediacaran paleobiology

AU - Kolesnikov, Anton V.

AU - Danelian, Taniel

AU - Gommeaux, Maxime

AU - Maslov, Andrey V.

AU - Grazhdankin, Dmitriy V.

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © SGF, Published by EDP Sciences 2017.

PY - 2017/1/1

Y1 - 2017/1/1

N2 - In the course of studying modern halotolerant microbial mats in salterns near the village of Kervalet, western France, we observed fanning-out and curved series of macroscopic ridges on the surface of a newly formed biofilm. The structure resembles the late Ediacaran fossil Arumberia which is globally distributed in Australia, Avalonia, Baltica, Siberia and India, always confined to intertidal and delta-plain settings subject to periodic desiccation or fluctuating salinity. Although the origin of the structure observed in modern microbial mats remains enigmatic, wrinkled and rugose variants of microbial biofilms in general exhibit increased levels of resistance to several environmental stresses. By analogy, the fossil Arumberia could be interpreted as a microbial mat morphotype (the "Arumberia" morph) developed in response to environmental perturbations in terminal Ediacaran shallow marine basins. If environmental conditions are likely to be responsible for the formation of Arumberia, it is not that a specific biological community has survived since the Ediacaran - it is that the biological response of microbial communities that manifested itself quite commonly in certain terminal Ediacaran and early Cambrian environments can still be found (seemingly in much more restricted settings) today.

AB - In the course of studying modern halotolerant microbial mats in salterns near the village of Kervalet, western France, we observed fanning-out and curved series of macroscopic ridges on the surface of a newly formed biofilm. The structure resembles the late Ediacaran fossil Arumberia which is globally distributed in Australia, Avalonia, Baltica, Siberia and India, always confined to intertidal and delta-plain settings subject to periodic desiccation or fluctuating salinity. Although the origin of the structure observed in modern microbial mats remains enigmatic, wrinkled and rugose variants of microbial biofilms in general exhibit increased levels of resistance to several environmental stresses. By analogy, the fossil Arumberia could be interpreted as a microbial mat morphotype (the "Arumberia" morph) developed in response to environmental perturbations in terminal Ediacaran shallow marine basins. If environmental conditions are likely to be responsible for the formation of Arumberia, it is not that a specific biological community has survived since the Ediacaran - it is that the biological response of microbial communities that manifested itself quite commonly in certain terminal Ediacaran and early Cambrian environments can still be found (seemingly in much more restricted settings) today.

KW - Arumberia

KW - Ediacaran

KW - Guérande saunas

KW - Microbial mat

KW - Microbially induced sedimentary structures

KW - AUSTRALIA

KW - SANDSTONE

KW - Guerande salinas

KW - BIOFILM

KW - BIOTA

KW - GLAESSNER

KW - SUPERGROUP

KW - BACILLUS-SUBTILIS

KW - CAMBRIAN EXPLOSION

KW - SEDIMENTARY STRUCTURES

KW - FOSSILS

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85026636005&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1051/bsgf/2017006

DO - 10.1051/bsgf/2017006

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85026636005

VL - 188

JO - Bulletin - Societie Geologique de France

JF - Bulletin - Societie Geologique de France

SN - 0037-9409

IS - 1-2

M1 - 5

ER -