Fossilized bioelectric wire - the trace fossil Trichichnus

The trace fossil is proposed as an indicator of fossil bioelectric bacterial activity at the oxic-anoxic interface zone of marine sediments. This fulfils the idea that such processes, commonly found in the modern realm, should be also present in the geological past. is an exceptional trace fossil du...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Biogeosciences 2015-04, Vol.12 (8), p.2301-2309
Main Authors: Kędzierski, M, Uchman, A, Sawlowicz, Z, Briguglio, A
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Anoxia
Anoxic sediments
Bacteria
Bioelectricity
Consortia
Electric wire
Fossils
Geology
Invertebrates
Marine sediments
Minerals
Morphology
Oxidation
Oxidoreductions
Scanners
Sediment
Sediments
Sulfides
Sulphides
Trace fossils
X ray microtomography
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Summary:The trace fossil is proposed as an indicator of fossil bioelectric bacterial activity at the oxic-anoxic interface zone of marine sediments. This fulfils the idea that such processes, commonly found in the modern realm, should be also present in the geological past. is an exceptional trace fossil due to its very thin diameter (mostly less than 1 mm) and common pyritic filling. It is ubiquitous in some fine-grained sediments, where it has been interpreted as a burrow formed deeper than any other trace fossils, below the redox boundary. , formerly referred to as deeply burrowed invertebrates, has been found as remnant of a fossilized intrasediment bacterial mat that is pyritized. As visualized in 3-D by means of X-ray computed microtomography scanner, forms dense filamentous fabric, which reflects that it is produced by modern large, mat-forming, sulfide-oxidizing bacteria, belonging mostly to -related taxa, which are able to house a complex bacterial consortium. Several stages of formation, including filamentous, bacterial mat and its pyritization, are proposed to explain an electron exchange between oxic and suboxic/anoxic layers in the sediment. Therefore, can be considered a fossilized "electric wire".
ISSN:1726-4170
1726-4189
1726-4189
DOI:10.5194/bg-12-2301-2015