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Miocene Fossil Microbe ? Mats


DPS Ammonite

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I found the silicified and brecciated laminar structures in Miocene lake deposits north of Phoenix, Arizona. Could they be disturbed algal mats? I envision a drying algal mat in a lake that is disturbed by an event such as a flood, windstorm, landslide or earthquake.

 

Compare to Kinneyia trace fossil:

https://woostergeologists.scotblogs.wooster.edu/2015/10/23/woosters-fossil-maybe-of-the-week-kinneyia-ripples/

 

Confirmed stromatolites occur nearby in the lake sediments.

 

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Photo 1: typical  wrinkled/ cracked marks in surface of laminar structures.


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Photo 2: typical piece of folded and brecciated laminar structures.

 

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Photo 3: detail of photo 2.

 

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Photo 4: edge of rock in photo 2.  4.5 cm field of view.


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Photo 5: Another piece.


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Photo 6: detail of photo 5.


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Photo 7: edge of photo 5.  3 cm field of view.

 

 

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Very interesting samples!

The first one reminds me of boxwork, the second one of bivalves in section, naybe oysters, but is just a guess. :)

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Really intriguing;

it looks like (pic 2 and ss) an intraclastic breccia, with the intraclasts corresponding to a fractured and folded… how to say? – in italian I would call that “tappeto algale” (word for word: “algal carpet”).

 

ciao

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