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Science 17 December 1971:
Vol. 174. no. 4015, pp. 1229 - 1231
DOI: 10.1126/science.174.4015.1229
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Articles

Artificial Microfossils: Experimental Studies of Permineralization of Blue-Green Algae in Silica

John H. Oehler 1 and J. William Schopf 1

1 Department of Geology, University of California, Los Angeles 90024

A technique has been developed to artificially fossilize microscopic algae in crystalline silica under conditions of moderately elevated temperature and pressure. The technique is designed to simulate geochemical processes thought to have resulted in the preservation of organic microfossils in Precambrian bedded cherts. In degree of preservation and mineralogic setting, the artificially permineralized microorganisms are comparable to naturally occurring fossil algae.


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Microbial silicification in Iodine Pool, Waimangu geothermal area, North Island, New Zealand: implications for recognition and identification of ancient silicified microbes.
B. Jones, K. O. Konhauser, R. W. Renaut, and R. S. Wheeler (2004)
Journal of the Geological Society 161, 983-993
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Taphonomy of Silicified Filamentous Microbes in Modern Geothermal Sinters--Implications for Identification.
(2001)
Palaios 16, 580-592


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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)