Project Description

In Greek, “stroma” means “mattress” and “lithos,” “stone.” These fossilized microbial mattes are amongst some of the oldest living animals on the planet, dating back 3.5 billion years ago to the Archean age. The sulfur yellow stromatolites come from the Strelley Pool formation (Warrawoona Group) in Western Australia, amongst the oldest known stromatolites. There are much younger fossilized stromatolites in the immediate area, in the green space around Red Rocks Amphitheater. There are even “stroms” still alive today, fittingly enough located in Sharks Bay, Australia.