Editing Stromatolite (section)

===Morphology===
Fossilized stromatolites exhibit a variety of forms and structures, or morphologies, including conical, stratiform, domal, columnar,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Zhu |first1=Dongya |last2=Liu |first2=Quanyou |last3=Wang |first3=Jingbin |last4=Ding |first4=Qian |last5=He |first5=Zhiliang |title=Stable carbon and oxygen isotope data of Late Ediacaran stromatolites from a hypersaline environment in the Tarim Basin (NW China) and their reservoir potential |journal=Facies |date=July 2021 |volume=67 |issue=3 |pages=25 |doi=10.1007/s10347-021-00633-0|s2cid=235638690 }}</ref> and branching types.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Planavsky |first1=Noah |last2=Grey |first2=Kathleen |title=Stromatolite branching in the Neoproterozoic of the Centralian Superbasin, Australia: an investigation into sedimentary and microbial control of stromatolite morphology |journal=Geobiology |date=16 August 2007 |volume=6 |issue=1 |pages=070816220552001–– |doi=10.1111/j.1472-4669.2007.00116.x|pmid=18380884 |s2cid=5495943 }}</ref> Stromatolites occur widely in the fossil record of the [[Precambrian]] but are rare today.<ref name="phw2017">{{cite journal |last1=Peters |first1=Shanan E. |last2=Husson |first2=Jon M. |last3=Wilcots |first3=Julia |title=The rise and fall of stromatolites in shallow marine environments |journal=Geology |date=June 2017 |volume=45 |issue=6 |pages=487–490 |doi=10.1130/G38931.1|bibcode=2017Geo....45..487P |url=http://strata.geology.wisc.edu/reprints/Peters_etal2017.pdf}}</ref> Very few [[Archean]] stromatolites contain fossilized microbes, but fossilized microbes are sometimes abundant in [[Proterozoic]] stromatolites.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Lepot |first1=Kevin |title=Signatures of early microbial life from the Archean (4 to 2.5 Ga) eon |journal=Earth-Science Reviews |date=October 2020 |volume=209 |pages=103296 |doi=10.1016/j.earscirev.2020.103296|bibcode=2020ESRv..20903296L |s2cid=225413847 |doi-access=free |hdl=20.500.12210/62415 |hdl-access=free }}</ref>

While features of some ancient apparent stromatolites are suggestive of biological activity, others possess features that are more consistent with [[abiotic]] (non-biological) precipitation.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Grotzinger|first1=John P.|last2=Rothman|first2=Daniel H.|date=3 October 1996|title=An abiotic model for stromatolite morphogenesis|journal=Nature|volume=383|issue=6599|doi=10.1038/383423a0|pages=423–425|bibcode=1996Natur.383..423G|s2cid=4325802}}</ref> Finding reliable ways to distinguish between biologically formed and abiotic stromatolites is an active area of research in geology.<ref name=Lepot2008/><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Perri |first1=E. |last2=Tucker |first2=M. E. |last3=Mawson |first3=M. |title=Biotic and Abiotic Processes In the Formation and Diagenesis of Permian Dolomitic Stromatolites (Zechstein Group, NE England) |journal=Journal of Sedimentary Research |date=25 September 2013 |volume=83 |issue=10 |pages=896–914 |doi=10.2110/jsr.2013.65 |bibcode=2013JSedR..83..896P |url = https://www.researchgate.net/publication/260845254 |access-date=8 January 2022}} </ref> Multiple morphologies of stromatolites may exist in a single local or geological stratum, depending on specific conditions at the time of their formation, such as water depth.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Meilijson |first1=Aaron |last2=Bialik |first2=Or M. |last3=Benjamini |first3=Chaim |title=Stromatolitic biotic systems in the mid-Triassic of Israel — A product of stress on an epicontinental margin |journal=Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology |date=December 2015 |volume=440 |pages=696–711 |doi=10.1016/j.palaeo.2015.09.030|bibcode=2015PPP...440..696M }}</ref>  

Most stromatolites are [[Spongiostromata|spongiostromate]] in texture, having no recognisable microstructure or cellular remains. A minority are [[Porostromata|porostromate]], having recognisable microstructure; these are mostly unknown from the Precambrian but persist throughout the [[Paleozoic|Palaeozoic]] and [[Mesozoic]]. Since the [[Eocene]], porostromate stromatolites are known only from freshwater settings.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Monty|first=C. L.|date=1981|editor-last=Monty|editor-first=Claude|title=Spongiostromate vs. Porostromate Stromatolites and Oncolites|url=https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-642-67913-1_1|journal=Phanerozoic Stromatolites|language=en|location=Berlin, Heidelberg|publisher=Springer|pages=1–4|doi=10.1007/978-3-642-67913-1_1|isbn=978-3-642-67913-1}}</ref>