Fossil Stromatolite from Kansas, Group of 5 Colonies, Pennsylvanian Age
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This specimen is about the size of a small spaghetti squash and is 9 inches long by 6 inches wide and 4 inches tall. It weighs 6.8 pounds.A stromatolite (which literally means, layered rock) is a limestone dome created by blue-green algae (cyanobacteria). The algae, which have long, sticky filaments, form colonies that trapp sediment floating in the sea. The sediment, in turn, reacted with the calcite (calcium carbonate) in the water to form limestone. Despite the fact that they dominated the Earth's environment during its early evolution there are only a hand full of stromatolite beds in existence today. One of the most notable is Shark Bay, Australia, a UNESCO World Heritage Site pictured above.This particular specimen was collected in Brown County situated in NE Kansas. It formed during the Pennsylvanian Period of the Carboniferous Age (360 to 298 MYA) and is considered young when compared to some of its older ancestors that are upwards of 2 billion years old. When this fossil was first discovered in Douglas County, Kansas it was mistaken for a sponge and given the name Somphospongia sp. Despite the fact that it does resemble a sponge it was later correctly identified as a stromatolite.We have a little fun at rock and gem shows and tell folks who ask, that the individual colonies are politician's brains- small and inflexible,
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