stromatolite
2
9.9
- noun
- /strəˈmætəˌlaɪt/
- Specialized
- Stromatolites, masses of blue-green algae like the ones found in western Australia, began pumping large amounts of oxygen into the atmosphere.
- fossils of stromatolites
- structures called stromatolites
- stromatolites form
Examples
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Stromatolites returned because there was nothing to eat them.
Blog text (28) -
The earliest evidence for life comes from 3.4 billion-year-old mats of bacteria called stromatolites found in Australia.
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We don't know that these oldest stromatolites were made by cyanobacteria.
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PHOTO (COLOR): Located within this stromatolite are the fossilized remains of blue-green algae that lived more than about three billion years ago.
Academic text (2006) -
In fact, right after the first water appeared 3.5 billion years ago, as attested to by the fossils of stromatolites at Warrawoona, Australia.
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At 3.46 billion, we find cyanobacteria colonizing at a great rate in stromatolites—the whole shmear.
Fiction book (1999) -
Along the seashore, dense colonies of cyanobacteria formed structures known as stromatolites that are essential to the ecosystem.
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When exploring the ancient ocean, scientists saw stromatolites that revealed how microorganisms contributed to early Earth.
Surface Forms
Morphology
stromatolite = stromat + lite
The word is formed from specialized Greek combining forms (stromat- + -lite) used in scientific nomenclature, which are not productive or familiar to average learners, so the meaning cannot be derived from common English base words.
Etymology
Stromatolite comes from the Greek roots stroma meaning 'layer' and lithos meaning 'stone', so it literally means a 'layered stone'. Stromatolites are rocks built by tiny living things like bacteria that grow in layers, which is why the name fits what they are today.