Fig. 4: Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) micrographs showing the mineralogical context of Mosquito Creek Formation microbial mats. | Nature Communications

Fig. 4: Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) micrographs showing the mineralogical context of Mosquito Creek Formation microbial mats.

From: Aluminous phyllosilicates promote exceptional nanoscale preservation of biogeochemical heterogeneities in Archaean siliciclastic microbial mats

Fig. 4

A SEM micrograph (image acquired at an angle of 52˚) showing undulatory microbial mat–phyllosilicate layer within an arkosic sandstone matrix. Clay particles are oriented approximately parallel to the microbial mat layer. B Phyllosilicate-rich interstitial zones within a quartz (qz) matrix. Microbial mat trends approximately vertically. C Oriented domains of illite with highly variable particle size interpreted as the product of illitisation of feldspar or other K-bearing phases. D Subaligned phyllosilicate platelets exhibiting quasi-hexagonal form (example arrowed), potentially representing the original morphology of primary kaolinite. The small booklet and subhexagonal morphologies of these minerals suggests kaolinite. E High-resolution SEM micrograph showing authigenic nano–micrometric phyllosilicate platelets associated with microbial mat laminations. Microbial mat trends approximately vertically. F High-resolution SEM micrograph showing nanometric phyllosilicate platelets (arrowed) embedded within an amorphous carbon-rich material interpreted as extracellular polymeric substances (EPS).

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