Cyanobacterial evolution and interactions with the Proterozoic world

Our understanding of the biosphere prior to the rise of complex life is built largely upon microbial mat structures and some exceptionally well-preserved microbial fossils from the Proterozoic (2500 to 540 million years ago). Some of these exceptional fossils are identifiable as cyanobacteria that were preserved by pyrite, amorphous silica (SiO₂) and other minerals. Although a record exists of these organisms, the sparse nature of fossil assemblages and simplicity of many Proterozoic fossil morphologies makes it difficult to identify specific taxa or create a complete picture of the ancient biosphere and how it interacted with the early Earth. Cyanobacteria are thought to have evolved early in Earth history and played a large part in shaping the ancient biosphere and geosphere, but questions remain about their evolution and the ways in which cyanobacterial communities interacted with the Earth during the Proterozoic Eon.

Name thesis:degree_name

Doctoral

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2020

Author dc:creator

• Moore, Kelsey Reed.

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Tanja Bosak.

• Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences.

Statement dc:rights

• MIT theses may be protected by copyright. Please reuse MIT thesis content according to the MIT Libraries Permissions Policy, which is available through the URL provided.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/127144

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/127144