Microbialite mystery: Characterizing development of Microbialites in the Jurassic strata of Wyoming
Baker, Mitchell Parcell, William C. Schwartz, Julia Dalton, Jack Nichols, Johnathon
Baker, Mitchell
Parcell, William C.
Schwartz, Julia
Dalton, Jack
Nichols, Johnathon
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2024
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Conference paper
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Keywords
Microbialite,Jurassic
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Citation
Baker, M., Parcell, W., Schwartz, J., Dalton, J., & Nichols, J. (2024). Microbialite mystery: Characterizing development of microbialites in the Jurassic strata of Wyoming. Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, 56(5). 10.1130/abs/2024AM-405469
Abstract
Microbialites have long been a diagnostic of paleoenvironmental conditions, and subsequent events throughout the Earth's History. These organosedimentary structures are formed by microbial communities that mediate carbonate precipitation and detrital sediment suspension. These structures provide an in-depth insight of the environment that these microbial communities inhabited. One such period is that of the Middle Jurassic, in which North America was undergoing great transgressive-regressive cycles in the Sundance Sea. Along the Sundance Sea's coastline, near what is now North-Western Wyoming, there are exposed microbialite horizons in the Gypsum Springs Formation due to uplifting during the Laramide Orogeny. The microbialites from this location may provide details of how the Sundance Sea might have changed over time but also what organisms lived in this region.
It is known that the internal architecture and structure of microbialites (i.e., stromatolite and thrombolite) may correlate to the depositional environments and climates in which they form. CT (Computed Tomography) provides a non-intrusive method to examine the 3D internal architecture and structure of lithified microbialites. This research aims to quantify 1) identification of microbialite internal structure and impacted fossils, 2) image traits in relation to density and composition, and 3) image quality of CT scan type (CT and Micro-CT). The CT method may be a more efficient way of identifying microbialite structure with non-intrusive techniques. Using CT or other X-ray technologies may help to better understand how microbialites of the Middle Jurassic not only formed in particular climates, but also illustrates how their structure may have changed from different events in the environment. This in turn provides a gradient that details the characteristics microbialites encompass to determine habitability of other organisms found inside the lithified structure but also the surrounding strata.
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Description
Four Wichita State students presented their research at the National Geological Society of America meeting Sept. 22-25, 2024, in Anaheim, California. The students were accompanied by faculty researchers Dr. Will Parcell, chair and associate professor of geology, and Julia Schwartz, assistant educator in geology.
The students contributing to this research included: Mitch Baker, graduate student in earth, environmental and physical science Jack Dalton, graduate student in earth, environmental and physical science Ricky Nichols, senior in geology and secondary education in earth and space science
A list of WSU research presented at the conference can be found here: https://news.wichita.edu/2024/09/25/geology-students-present-research-at-national-conference/
The students contributing to this research included: Mitch Baker, graduate student in earth, environmental and physical science Jack Dalton, graduate student in earth, environmental and physical science Ricky Nichols, senior in geology and secondary education in earth and space science
A list of WSU research presented at the conference can be found here: https://news.wichita.edu/2024/09/25/geology-students-present-research-at-national-conference/
Publisher
Geological Society of America
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Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs
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Archival Collection
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0016-7592