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Stromatolites : any way to date them ?


HDK

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Hi,

I have a nice group of spherical stromatolites joined together. Since these are around since a couple of billion years and still exist today, is there a good way to date them (or at least get a rough estimation)? Scale on the photo is in cm.

Thanks

Hans

post-22198-0-73769800-1470949558_thumb.jpg

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Where were they found?

Usually, you can figure out the age of the rock they were found in by location.

Regards,

    Tim    VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER

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Tim,

I do not know. Found them in a garage sale and were used as paper weight.... I was hoping that the form/colour might give an indication ? Early cambrian ?

Hans

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Looks like it's from Morocco. I have a similar one. My stromatolite is from the lower cretaceous, Tagana Formation. Kem-Kem region. Ksar-es Souk, Morocco. I'm not saying that's where yours is from, but it should help you out.

Best regards,

Paul

...I'm back.

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Hi,

I have a nice group of spherical stromatolites joined together. Since these are around since a couple of billion years and still exist today, is there a good way to date them (or at least get a rough estimation)? Scale on the photo is in cm.

Thanks

Hans

No, no means. I've been in a lab with 3 doctor emeritus palozoic paleontologists trying to get info on a stromatalite. The conclusion?...its fossilized so must be old.

Raggedy man recognizes the macro look of this specimen so that's as good an identification as possible without detailed info where it was found.

Its a nice specimen. Is it heavy for its size? Stromatolites often are silicified.

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Looks like it's from Morocco. I have a similar one. My stromatolite is from the lower cretaceous, Tagana Formation. Kem-Kem region. Ksar-es Souk, Morocco. I'm not saying that's where yours is from, but it should help you out.

Best regards,

Paul

I agree. Looks like that ones from Morocco.

" We are not separate and independent entities, but like links in a chain, and we could not by any means be what we are without those who went before us and showed us the way. "

Thomas Mann

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If the provenance question Bonino asked last year was never answered I would be hesitant to label them even as "similar to stromatolites from Morocco" especially after seeing his cut and polished samples.

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No, no means. I've been in a lab with 3 doctor emeritus palozoic paleontologists trying to get info on a stromatalite. The conclusion?...its fossilized so must be old.

Raggedy man recognizes the macro look of this specimen so that's as good an identification as possible without detailed info where it was found.

Its a nice specimen. Is it heavy for its size? Stromatolites often are silicified.

Hi,

It is indeed heavy : it wheighs 3,5 kgs while the longest side is only 20 cm.

Hans

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Here's a particularly unhelpful photo taken in a WY rock shop this past July

Is that 8 billion in dog years? If so, that would place them in the Mesoproterozoic.

Context is critical.

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