Morphogenesis Modeling of Conical Microbial Mats

Abstract

Stromatolites are the oldest macroscopic fossils that record the interaction between sediments and microbes. The question that remains is why do microbial mats tend to give a conical geometry to stromatolites. Prior researches on the diffusive gradients that occur around such structures have supplied an analytical view onto how microbial mats develop such conical shapes. Numerical modeling of diffusion has shown how the process of diffusion acts within the microbial mat and leads to the formation of a stromatolite. Moreover, past research has found that in order to study a stromatolites growth, one has to utilize many other factors and functions, not just look at the diffusion equation. Present models have been made but also have some assumptions to them due to the time span that stromatolites have been existence for.