Discovery of modern living intertidal stromatolites on Sheybarah Island, Red Sea, Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Microbial carbonates, and stromatolites in particular, represent the earliest geological record of life on Earth, which dominated the planet as the sole biotic carbonate factory for almost 3 b.y., from the Archean to the late Proterozoic. Rare and sparsely scattered across the globe in the present day, modern “living” stromatolites are typically relegated to extreme environmental niches, remaining as vestiges of a prodigious microbial past. Here, we report the first discovery of living shallow-marine stromatolites in the Middle East, on Sheybarah Island, Al Wajh carbonate platform, on the NE Red Sea shelf (Saudi Arabia). We detail their regional distribution and describe their environmental conditions, internal structures, and microbial diversity. We also report the first discovery of reticulated filaments in a photic setting, associated with these stromatolites. The Sheybarah stromatolites occur in the intertidal to shallow subtidal zones along the seaward-facing beach in three depth-dependent growth forms. Their inner layers were formed by microbially mediated accretion and differential lithification of sediment grains. Compositional microbial analysis revealed the presence of a wide range of microbial life forms.