Stromatolite
noun
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A laminated, columnar, rock-like structure constituting a large share of all fossils from 3.5 to 0.5 billion years ago, with some still being formed at present, some or all of which result from the deposit of minerals by microorganisms such as cyanobacteria.
"Most modern and ancient stromatolites occur in carbonate sediments and sedimentary rocks, but they can form by trapping and binding of any sediment particles."
Example
More examples"Most modern and ancient stromatolites occur in carbonate sediments and sedimentary rocks, but they can form by trapping and binding of any sediment particles."
Etymology
From Ancient Greek στρώματα (strṓmata) (plural of στρῶμα (strôma, “layer”)) + λίθος (líthos, “stone, rock”).
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.