Editing Stromatolite (section)

=== Saline locations ===

Modern stromatolites are mostly found in [[hypersaline lake]]s and marine lagoons where high saline levels prevent animal grazing.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.britannica.com/science/stromatolite |title=Stromatolite &#124; geology}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/science/oldest-evidence-of-life-on-earth-found-in-australia/articleshow/61658155.cms?from=mdr |title=Oldest evidence of life on Earth found in Australia |newspaper=The Economic Times}}</ref> One such location where excellent modern specimens can be observed is [[Hamelin Pool Marine Nature Reserve]], [[Shark Bay]] in [[Western Australia]]. In 2010, a fifth type of [[chlorophyll]], namely [[chlorophyll f]], was discovered by [[Min Chen (biologist) |Min Chen]] from stromatolites in Shark Bay.<ref name="chen2010">{{Cite journal | year=2010 | journal=Science | title=A Red-Shifted Chlorophyll | first6=H. . | volume=329 | issue=5997 | doi=10.1126/science.1191127 | pages=1318–1319 | pmid=20724585 | last6=Scheer | first5=B. A. | first2=M. . | last2=Schliep | first1=M. . | last3=Willows | first3=R. D. | last5=Neilan | first4=Z. -L. | last4=Cai | last1=Chen |bibcode=2010Sci...329.1318C | s2cid=206527174 }}</ref> ''[[Halococcus hamelinensis]]'', a [[halophile |halophilic]] [[archaea |archaeon]], occurs in living stromatolites in [[Shark Bay]] where it is exposed to extreme conditions of [[ultraviolet |UV]] radiation, [[salinity]] and [[desiccation]].<ref name="Leuko2011">Leuko S, Neilan BA, Burns BP, Walter MR, Rothschild LJ. Molecular assessment of UVC radiation-induced DNA damage repair in the stromatolitic halophilic archaeon, Halococcus hamelinensis. J Photochem Photobiol B. 2011 Feb 7;102(2):140-5. doi: 10.1016/j.jphotobiol.2010.10.002. Epub 2010 Oct 23. PMID: 21074452</ref> ''H. hamelinesis'' possesses genes that encode enzymes employed in the repair of UV induced damages in [[DNA]] by the processes of [[nucleotide excision repair]] and [[photolyase |photoreactivation]].<ref name="Leuko2011" />

Other locations include [[Pampa del Tamarugal National Reserve]] in Chile; [[Lagoa Salgada]], [[Rio Grande do Norte]], Brazil, where modern stromatolites can be observed as both bioherms (domal type) and beds; in the [[Puna de Atacama]] of the Andes; and near Sheybarah Island in [[Saudi Arabia]].<ref name="CU-20231206">{{cite news |last=Strain |first=Daniel |date=6 December 2023 |title=Deep within an inhospitable desert, a window to first life on Earth |url=https://www.colorado.edu/today/2023/12/06/deep-within-inhospitable-desert-window-first-life-earth |url-status=live |archiveurl=https://archive.today/20231230225404/https://www.colorado.edu/today/2023/12/06/deep-within-inhospitable-desert-window-first-life-earth |archivedate=30 December 2023 |accessdate=30 December 2023 |work=[[University of Colorado]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Banias |first=M. J. |date=2024-06-03 |title=New Study Says Life on Earth May Have Originated in Saudi Arabia 3.48 Billion Years Ago |url=https://thedebrief.org/new-study-says-life-on-earth-may-have-originated-in-saudi-arabia-3-48-billion-years-ago/ |access-date=2025-02-04 |website=The Debrief |language=en-US}}</ref>

Inland stromatolites can be found in saline waters in [[Cuatro Ciénegas Basin]], a unique ecosystem in the Mexican desert. [[Oriental_Basin#Lake_Alchichica|Alchichica Lake]] in [[Puebla]], Mexico has two distinct morphologic generations of stromatolites: columnar-dome like structures, rich in [[aragonite]], forming near the shore line, dated back to 1,100 [[years before present]] (ybp) and spongy-cauliflower like thrombolytic structures that dominate the lake from top to the bottom, mainly composed of [[hydromagnesite]], [[huntite]], [[calcite]] and dated back to 2,800 ybp.<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Kaźmierczak, J. |author2=Kempe, S. |author3=Kremer, B. |author4=López-Garcia, P. |author5=Moreira, D. |author6=Tavera, R. |name-list-style=amp |date=2011 |title=Hydrochemistry and microbialites of the alkaline caldera Lake Alchichica, Mexico |journal=Facies |volume=57 |page=543–570 |doi=10.1007/s10347-010-0255-8 |doi-access=free}}</ref> The only open marine environment where modern stromatolites are known to prosper is the [[Exuma]] Cays in the Bahamas.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://sepmstrata.org/Bahamas/pages/217-Stromatolites-Lee-Stocking-Exumas-Bahamas.html |title=217-Stromatolites-Lee-Stocking-Exumas-Bahamas Bahamas |access-date=2011-12-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100326211512/http://sepmstrata.org/Bahamas/pages/217-Stromatolites-Lee-Stocking-Exumas-Bahamas.html |archive-date=26 March 2010 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Feldmann M, McKenzie JA |doi=10.2307/3515490 |title=Stromatolite-thrombolite associations in a modern environment, Lee Stocking Island, Bahamas |journal=PALAIOS |date=April 1998 |volume=13 |pages=201–212 |issue=2 |bibcode=1998Palai..13..201F |jstor=3515490}}</ref>