Siliceous Algal and Bacterial Stromatolites in Hot Spring and Geyser Effluents of Yellowstone National Park

Growing algal and bacterial stromatolites composed of nearly amorphous silica occur around hot springs and geysers in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming. Some Precambrian stromatolites may be bacterial rather than algal, which has important implications in atmospheric evolution, since bacterial photo-synthesis does not release oxygen. Conophyton stromatolites were thought to have become extinct at the end of the Precambrian, but are still growing in hot spring effluents.