Heliotropism in Modern Stromatolites

Awramik, Stanley M.; Vanyo, James P.

doi:10.1126/science.231.4743.1279

Cited by 52 publications

(35 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…This sample differs from the others in that the longer periodicity is a side-to-side motion, explained by the authors according to the premise that the colony tracked the seasonal motion of the sun (modern examples of this behavior are reported (Awramik and Vanyo, 1986). Although their estimate is not inconsistent with a resonant ~ 21 h day, it is much too recent and far too imprecise to differentiate between the two models.…”

Section: Comparison With the Geologic Recordmentioning

confidence: 64%

A constant daylength during the precambrian era?

Zahnle

Walker

1987

Precambrian Research

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Zahnle, K. and Walker, J.C.G., 1987. A constant daylength during the Precambrian Era? Precambrian Res., 37: 95-105.The semidiurnal atmospheric thermal tide would have been resonant with free oscillations of the atmosphere when the day was ~ 21 h long, c. 600 Ma ago. Very large atmospheric tides would have resulted, with associated surface pressure oscillations in excess of 10 mbar in the tropics. Near resonance the Sun's gravitational torque on the atmospheric tide -accelerating Earth's rotation -would have been comparable in magnitude to the decelerating lunar torque upon the oceanic tides. The balance of the opposing torques may have long maintained a resonant ~ 21 h day, perhaps for much of the Precambrian. Because the timescale of lunar orbital evolution is not directly affected, a constant daylength would result in fewer days/month. The hypothesis is shown not to conflict with the available (stromatolitic) evidence. Escape from the resonance could have followed a relatively abrupt global warming, such as that occurring at the end of the Precambrian. Alternatively, escape may simply have followed a major increase in the rate of oceanic tidal dissipation, brought about by the changing topography of the world's oceans. We integrate the history of the lunar orbit with and without a sustained resonance, finding that the impact of a sustained resonance on the other orbital parameters of the Earth-Moon system would not have been large.

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Section: Comparison With the Geologic Recordmentioning

confidence: 64%

A constant daylength during the precambrian era?

Zahnle

Walker

1987

Precambrian Research

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“…They argued that both sinusoidal pattern and inclination of columns are a result of heliotropism, non-vertical growth of columns toward incident solar radiation. Awramik and Vanyo (1986) also found evidence of inclined modern stromatolite tuffs from Shark Bay, Western Australia, and Yellowstone National Park, USA. Their model seems to be reasonable under shallow and low-energy environments where biological factors more strongly control stromatolite morphologies than physical and chemical parameters.…”

Section: Discussion On Heliotropismmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Under the conditions characterized by high-energy and high sedimentation rates, local environmental conditions are likely to influence more effectively on column morphology than microbial response to sunlight. Awramik and Vanyo (1986) also noticed this phenomenon, mentioning "Heliotropically oriented stromatolites are not ubiquitous at all sites (p. 1280)".…”

Section: Discussion On Heliotropismmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Such inclination was already documented from both modern (Gebelein, 1969;Hofmann, 1973;Awramik and Vanyo, 1986;Chivas et al, 1990) and fossil stromatolites (Nordeng, 1963;Vologdin, 1964;Vanyo and Awramik, 1985;Kusky and Vanyo, 1991; Williams et al, 2007). Some authors (Nordeng, 1963;Vologdin, 1964;Vanyo and Awramik, 1985;Awramik and Vanyo, 1986) insisted that inclination of columns were due to phototaxis behavior of stromatolite building microbes, a result of heliotropism. Others (Hofmann, 1973;Chivas et al, 1990 ), on the other Fig.…”

Section: Directional Structure Of Socheong Stromatolitesmentioning

confidence: 98%

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Possibility for Heliotropism from Inclined Columns of Stromatolites, Socheong Island, Korea

Kong¹,

Lee²

2013

Journal of the Korean earth science society

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Socheong island is a unique island containing Precambrian stromatolites in South Korea. Most of Socheong stromatolites are domes and columns, occurring as 10 cm to 1 m thick stromatolite beds. Lower parts of the stromatolite beds are predominantly composed of domes, but columns increase toward the upper level of stromatolite beds. In many of the stromatolite beds, inclined columns are easily identifiable, which is generally considered as a result of heliotropism. From general lithology, sedimentary structures, inclined angles and distributional pattern, and structural deformation of sedimentary rocks of Socheong island, the inclination of Socheong stromatolites could be better interpreted as a secondary structural deformation probably after formation of stromatolite columns, rather than as a result of heliotropism. However, at this moment, we do not clearly reject heliotropism interpretation for inclined columns of Socheong stromatolites. This is because the original position of stromatolite columns could have been lost if structural deformation had affected the whole sedimentary rocks of Socheong island.

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“…40 The movements can be actuated through preferential growth driven by light gradients (phototropism) 41 or by optical modulation of the osmotic pressure of motor cells (heliotropism) 42 in a mechanism similar to the guard cells of the stomata. These plant movements aim to either increase or reduce the amount of light received by the plant.…”

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confidence: 99%

Optofluidics of plants

Vasdekis

Choi

2016

APL Photonics

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Optofluidics is a tool for synthesizing optical systems, making use of the interaction of light with fluids. In this paper we explore optofluidic mechanisms that have evolved in plants where sunlight and fluidic control combine to define most of the functionality of the plan. We hope that the presentation of how plants function, from an optofluidics point of view, will open a window for the optics community to the vast literature of plant physiology and provide inspiration for new ideas for the design of bio-mimetic optofluidic devices.

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Heliotropism in Modern Stromatolites

Cited by 52 publications

References 10 publications

A constant daylength during the precambrian era?

A constant daylength during the precambrian era?

Possibility for Heliotropism from Inclined Columns of Stromatolites, Socheong Island, Korea

Optofluidics of plants

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