Stromatolites are the most intriguing geobiological structures of the entire history of Joachim Reitner, Nadia-Valérie Quéric, the earth since the early beginning of the fossil record in the Archaean. Traditionally, stromatolites and related microbial sediments are interpreted as biosedimentological Mike Reich (Eds.) remains of biofilms and microbial mats. Stromatolites are important environmental and evolutionary archives that give us plenty of information on ancient habitats, biodiversity, and evolution of complex Geobiology of Stromatolites benthic biosystems. However, many aspects of the formation, biology, and geobiology of these structures are still cryptic and poorly understood. International Kalkowsky-Symposium, The symposium is dedicated to Ernst Louis Kalkowsky (1851–1938), who introduced Göttingen, October 4-11, 2008 the terms “Stromatolith” and “Ooid” to the earth science community in 1908. Abstract Volume and Field Guide to Excursions Joachim Reitner, Nadia-V. Quéric, Mike Reich (Eds.) Geobiology of Stromatolites of Geobiology (Eds.) Reich Mike Quéric, Nadia-V. Reitner, Joachim ISBN 978-3-940344-52-6 Universitätsdrucke Göttingen Universitätsdrucke Göttingen Joachim Reitner, Nadia-Valérie Quéric, Mike Reich (Eds.) Geobiology of Stromatolites This work is licensed under the Creative Commons License 2.0 “by-nd”, allowing you to download, distribute and print the document in a few copies for private or educational use, given that the document stays unchanged and the creator is mentioned. You are not allowed to sell copies of the free version. erschienen in der Reihe der Universitätsdrucke im Universitätsverlag Göttingen 2008 Geobiology of Stromatolites International Kalkowsky-Symposium Göttingen, October 4-11, 2008 Abstract Volume and Field Guide to Excursions Edited by Joachim Reitner Nadia-Valérie Quéric and Mike Reich Geobiologie der Stromatolithe Internationales Kalkowsky-Symposium, Göttingen, 04.-11. Oktober 2008 Kurzfassungen der Vorträge und Poster und Exkursionsführer Universitätsverlag Göttingen 2008 Bibliographische Information der Deutschen Nationalbibliothek Die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek verzeichnet diese Publikation in der Deutschen Nationalbibliographie; detaillierte bibliographische Daten sind im Internet über <http://dnb.ddb.de> abrufbar. Editorial contact Prof. Dr. Joachim Reitner, Mag. Nadia-Valérie Quéric, Dr. Mike Reich Geoscience Centre of the University of Göttingen Goldschmidtstraße 3-5 37077 Göttingen http://www.geobiologie.uni-goettingen.de http://www.geomuseum.uni-goettingen.de This work is protected by German Intellectual Property Right Law. It is also available as an Open Access version through the publisher’s homepage and the Online Catalogue of the State and University Library of Goettingen (http://www.sub.uni-goettingen.de). Users of the free online version are invited to read, download and distribute it. Users may also print a small number for educational or private use. However they may not sell print versions of the online book. Graphics and Layout : Dr. Mike Reich Cover Design : Conny Kaubisch, Dr. Mike Reich Cover Photos: Gerhard Hundertmark Photo Credits: Stromatolites: Mesabi-Range, Minnesota, USA, Palaeoproterozoic Drawing: Kalkowsky, E. (1908) ‚Oolith und Stromatolith im norddeutschen Buntsandstein‘. Zeitschrift der Deutschen geologischen Gesellschaft 60: 68-125 (3 figs., pls. IV-XI). Signature: Guest book of the ‘Neues Geologisches Museum Göttingen’ (Inaugurated at the general meeting of the Deutsche Geologische Gesellschaft, September 25-28, 1878) © 2008 Universitätsverlag Göttingen http://univerlag.uni-goettingen.de ISBN: 978-3-940344-52-6 Contents Preface ............................................................................................................................ 7 E. Kalkowsky – biography Gehler, A. & Reich, M.: „Ernst Louis Kalkowsky (1851-1938) and the term ‘stromatolite’“ ............................................................................................................... 9 Plenary talk Stackebrandt, E.: „Nicht jeder Tropfen höhlt den Stein: Stromatolithe aus geo- mikrobiologischer Sicht“ ............................................................................................. 18 Keynotes [Brocks, J. J.; Decho, A. W. et al.; Ferris, F. G.; Kano, A. et al.; Kato, K.; Krüger, M. et al.; Reid, R. P. et al.; Riding, R.; Taviani, M.; Thor- seth, I. H.; Van Kranendonk, M. J.; Westall, F.] ........................................... 19 Abstracts [in alphabetical order] ............................................................................................... 39 Excursion A: Pre-Conference Field Trip Paul, J.; Arp, G. & Reitner, J.: „Kalkowsky’s type stromatolites and other microbialites of Lower Saxony“ ................................................................................ 141 Excursion B: Post-Conference Field Trip Arp, G.: „Fossil and present-day stromatolites of southern Germany“ ......................... 168 Index of authors ........................................................................................................ 203 5 Preface Stromatolites are the most intriguing geobiological structures of the entire history of the earth since the early beginning of the fossil record in the Archaean. Tradi- tionally, stromatolites and related microbial sediments are interpreted as biosedi- mentological remains of biofilms and microbial mats. The Geobiology Group in Göttingen has successfully been granted a large inter- national research project to solve many of these open questions. Therefore, this symposium is organised under the auspices of the DFG-Research Unit FOR 571 “Geobiology of Organo- and Biofilms” and the Courant Research Centre Geobiology, which is part of the German Federal Excellence Initiative. However, one group on their own cannot answer all open questions, and therefore we have planned and organised the stromatolites symposium in Göttingen together with our international colleagues and friends. This meeting somewhat stands in the tradition of the “Death Valley International Stromatolite Symposium”, which was very successfully organised by Stanley M. Awramik and Robert Riding in 1994. This meeting has given us new and exceptional ideas and information of the formation and environmental setting of stromatolites, and we hope that the symposium in Göttingen will deliver us new insights into the scientific progress of this topic, which has taken place during the past 14 years. The symposium is dedicated to Ernst Louis Kalkowsky (1851–1938), who has introduced the terms “Stromatolith” [‘stromatolite’] and “Ooid” [‘ooid’] to the earth science community in 1908. 2008 is the 100th anniversary of his remarkable publication „Oolith und Stromatolith im norddeutschen Buntsandstein.“ published in the “Zeitschrift der Deutschen geologischen Gesellschaft”. More than 120 scientists from various interdisciplinary fields, e. g. biology, micro- biology, biogeochemistry, geology, sedimentology, from 19 countries world-wide will join the meeting and present their most recent research on stromatolites and related topics. The symposium is flanked by a field trip to the classical outcrops of Kalkowsky’s stromatolites in eastern Lower Saxony (Northern Germany) and a trip to Bavaria (Southern Germany) to the famous outcrops in the Ries-Meteorite Crater, Soln- hofen Lithographic limestones, and modern freshwater tufa deposits. During the symposium, three workshops will be offered dealing with geohistology, Raman spectroscopy, and EPS-ExoPolymeric Substances. A concomitant event of the symposium will be a special exhibition of stromatolites and various microbial sediments in the rooms of the Geoscience Museum of the 7 Preface International Kalkowsky-Symposium „Geobiology of Stromatolites“, October 4-11, 2008 Geoscience Centre of the University of Göttingen (GZG). It is entitled: “How Bacteria Design the World. Architects of the Global Change in the last 3.6 Billion Years”. We wish all participants of the symposium a very successful meeting and that intriguing new information and new ideas for research projects will be the result, and, last but not least, that new colleagues and friends for future successful co- operation will be found. Joachim Reitner, Gernot Arp, Nadia V. Quéric & Mike Reich, October 2008 8 Ernst Louis Kalkowsky (1851–1938) and the term ‘stromatolite’ Alexander Gehler1 & Mike Reich2 1Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, Geowissenschaftliches Zentrum, Abt. Geobiologie, Göttingen, Germany; E-mail: [email protected] 2Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, Geowissenschaftliches Zentrum, Museum, Sammlungen & Geopark, Göttingen, Germany; E-mail: [email protected] Introduction Today, stromatolites are well investigated and known worldwide, from the Archae- an to Recent. Only 100 years ago, the situation was completely different. As late as in the early 20th century, the German Professor Ernst Louis Kalkowsky (1851– 1938; Fig. 1) was engaged intensively in the research of stromatolitic and oolitic structures from the German Buntsandstein (Early Triassic), and interpreted them (Kalkowsky 1908; Fig. 2). Especially in the case of stromatolites, his views have high relevance until now. He also established the terms “Stromatolith” [= “stromato- lite”] and “Ooid” [= “ooid”], which were later universally accepted for analogous structures (e. g. Paul & Peryt 1985). Fig. 1. Ernst Louis Kalkowsky, photograph taken around 1928. [© Staatliche Naturhisto- Fig. 2. Title page of E. Kalkowsky’s paper rische Sammlungen Dresden, Museum für “Oolith