Editing Stromatolite (section)

===Freshwater locations===
[[File:Pavilion Lake microbialite towers.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Microbialite]] towers in [[Pavilion Lake]], [[British Columbia]]]]
[[Lake Bacalar|Laguna de Bacalar]] in Mexico's southern [[Yucatán Peninsula]] has an extensive formation of living giant [[microbialite]]s (that is, stromatolites or thrombolites). The microbialite bed is over {{convert|10|km|mi|abbr=on}} long with a vertical rise of several meters in some areas. These may be the largest sized living freshwater microbialites, or any organism, on Earth.<ref name=Gischler2008>{{cite journal|author=Gischler, E.|author2=Gibson, M.|author3=Oschmann, W.|name-list-style=amp|title=Giant Holocene Freshwater Microbialites, Laguna Bacalar, Quintana Roo, Mexico|journal=Sedimentology|volume=55|pages=1293–1309|year=2008|doi=10.1111/j.1365-3091.2007.00946.x|issue=5|bibcode = 2008Sedim..55.1293G |s2cid=129828647 }}</ref>

A 1.5&nbsp;km stretch of reef-forming stromatolites (primarily of the genus ''[[Scytonema]]'') occurs in [[Chetumal Bay]] in [[Belize]], just south of the mouth of the [[Rio Hondo (Belize)|Rio Hondo]] and the Mexican border.<ref>{{cite journal|author=Rasmussen, K.A.|author2=Macintyre, I.G.|author3=Prufert, L|name-list-style=amp|title=Modern stromatolite reefs fringing a brackish coastline, Chetumal Bay, Belize|journal=Geology|volume=21|issue=3|pages=199–202|date=March 1993|doi=10.1130/0091-7613(1993)021<0199:MSRFAB>2.3.CO;2|bibcode = 1993Geo....21..199R |url=http://doc.rero.ch/record/14025/files/PAL_E1070.pdf }}</ref> Large microbialite towers up to 40 m high were discovered in the largest [[soda lake]] on Earth, [[Lake Van]] in eastern Turkey. They are composed of [[aragonite]] and grow by precipitation of [[calcite]] from sub-lacustrine karst-water.<ref>{{cite journal|author1=Kempe, S. |author2=Kaźmierczak, J.|author3=Landmann, G.|author4=Konuk, T.|author5=Reimer, A.|author6=Lipp, A.|name-list-style=amp |title=Largest known microbialites discovered in Lake Van, Turkey|journal=Nature|volume=349|date= 1991|issue=6310|page=605–608|doi=10.1038/349605a0|bibcode=1991Natur.349..605K|s2cid=4240438}}</ref> Freshwater stromatolites are found in [[Lake Salda]] in southern Turkey. The waters are rich in [[magnesium]] and the stromatolite structures are made of [[hydromagnesite]].<ref>{{cite journal|author1=Braithwaite, C. |author2=Zedef V |name-list-style=amp |title=Living hydromagnesite stromatolites from Turkey|journal=Sedimentary Geology|volume=106|date=November 1996|page=309|doi=10.1016/S0037-0738(96)00073-5|issue=3–4|bibcode=1996SedG..106..309B}}</ref>

Two instances of freshwater stromatolites are found in Canada, at [[Pavilion Lake]] and [[Kelly Lake, British Columbia|Kelly Lake]] in [[British Columbia]]. Pavilion Lake has the largest known freshwater stromatolites, and [[NASA]] has conducted [[xenobiology]] research there,<ref>{{cite journal|title=Modern Freshwater Microbialites from Kelly Lake, British Columbia, Canada|vauthors=Ferris FG, Thompson JB, Beveridge TJ |journal=PALAIOS|volume=12|date=June 1997|jstor=3515423|issue=3|pages=213–219|doi=10.2307/3515423|bibcode=1997Palai..12..213F }}</ref> called the "[[Pavilion Lake Research Project]]." The goal of the project is to better understand what conditions would likely harbor life on other planets.<ref>{{cite journal|doi=10.1016/j.chemgeo.2010.03.016|author=Brady, A.|title=Photosynthetic isotope biosignatures in laminated micro-stromatolitic and non-laminated nodules associated with modern, freshwater microbialites in Pavilion Lake, B.C|journal=Chemical Geology|author2=Slater, G.F.|author3=Omelon, C.R.|author4=Southam, G.|author5=Druschel, G.|author6=Andersen, A.|author7=Hawes, I.|author8=Laval, B.|author9=Lim, D.S.S.|year=2010|volume=274|issue=1–2|pages=56–67|bibcode=2010ChGeo.274...56B}}</ref><ref>
{{cite web
|url = https://nasa.gov/exploration/analogs/mapper.html
|title = NASA Help NASA Find Life on Mars With MAPPER
|publisher = [[NASA]]
|access-date = 2011-12-10
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110930124647/http://nasa.gov/exploration/analogs/mapper.html
|archive-date = 30 September 2011
|url-status = live
}}
</ref>

Microbialites have been discovered in an open pit pond at an abandoned asbestos mine near [[Clinton Creek]], [[Yukon]],
Canada.<ref>Power, I.M., Wilson, S.A., Dipple, G.M., and Southam, G. (2011) ''Modern carbonate microbialites from an asbestos open pit pond, Yukon, Canada'', http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/gbi.2011.9.issue-2/issuetoc {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120211140309/http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/gbi.2011.9.issue-2/issuetoc |date=11 February 2012 }} Geobiology. 9: 180–195.</ref> These microbialites are extremely young and presumably began forming soon after the mine closed in 1978. The combination of a low sedimentation rate, high calcification rate, and low microbial growth rate appears to result in the formation of these microbialites. Microbialites at an historic mine site demonstrates that an anthropogenically constructed environment can foster microbial carbonate formation. This has implications for creating artificial environments for building modern microbialites including stromatolites.

[[File:'Crayback' stromatolite - Nettle Cave, Jenolan Caves, NSW, Australia.jpg|thumb |alt='Crayback' stromatolite – Nettle Cave, Jenolan Caves, NSW, Australia |'Crayback' stromatolite – Nettle Cave, [[Jenolan Caves]], [[NSW]], [[Australia]]]]
A very rare type of non-lake dwelling stromatolite lives in the Nettle Cave at [[Jenolan Caves]], [[New South Wales|NSW]], Australia.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.jenolancaves.org.au/compulsive_self-guided_cave_tour.php |title=Nettle Cave Self-guided tour |author=Jenolan Caves Reserve Trust |access-date=22 May 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110910062514/http://www.jenolancaves.org.au/compulsive_self-guided_cave_tour.php |archive-date=10 September 2011 |url-status=dead}}</ref> The cyanobacteria live on the surface of the limestone and are sustained by the calcium-rich dripping water, which allows them to grow toward the two open ends of the cave which provide light.<ref>{{cite journal|journal=Geomicrobiology Journal|volume =7|issue=4|year=1989|title=Cyanobacterially deposited speleothems: Subaerial stromatolites|doi=10.1080/01490458909377870|vauthors=Cox G, James JM, ((Leggett KEA)), ((Osborne RAL)) |pages=245–252}}</ref> 

Stromatolites composed of calcite have been found in both the [[Blue Lake (South Australia)|Blue Lake]] in the dormant volcano, [[Mount Gambier (volcano)|Mount Gambier]] and at least eight [[cenote]] lakes including the [[Little Blue Lake]] in the [[Limestone Coast|Lower South-East of South Australia]].<ref>{{cite journal|last=Thurgate|first=Mia E.|title=The Stromatolites of the Cenote Lakes of the Lower South East of South Australia|journal=[[Helictite (journal)|Helictite, Journal of Australasian Cave Research]]|year=1996|volume=34|issue=1|page=17|url=http://helictite.caves.org.au/pdf4/34.01.Issue.Print.pdf|issn=0017-9973|access-date=14 March 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140205061253/http://helictite.caves.org.au/pdf4/34.01.Issue.Print.pdf|archive-date=5 February 2014|url-status=live}}</ref>