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Stromatolites in Australia
Stromatolites at Hamelin Pool, Shark Bay in western Australia. Stromalites are mineralised microbial communities, formed from blue-green algae (cyanobacteria). Over the last 4000 years, algae growing in this area have trapped detritus and sediment, forming large, living rafts known as microbial mats. The secretion of calcium carbonate by the algae has caused the mats to mineralise, forming the rock-like structures seen here. Stromatolites are known as living fossils, because the process of mat formation and mineralisation continues today.
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