ACCRETIONARY GROWTH? EXPLORING THE EVOLUTION OF THE LITERATURE ON STROMATOLITE MORPHOGENESIS

Stromatolites are laminated sedimentary constructions that are built by microbes. The morphology of these structures is treated as an indicator for environmental or biological conditions present at the time of formation. Numerous observations, experiments, and theoretical models are utilized to better understand stromatolite formation and morphogenesis. To date, many open questions remain. Here, we test for underexplored hypotheses or biases in the published literature. We develop and apply computational tools to existing literature databases, including xDD (formerly known as GeoDeepDive), and Web of Science. We examine the compiled data using graphical representations and statistical analyses to assess whether references are over- or under-cited and how they have contributed to the present-day understanding of stromatolite morphogenesis. We use these analyses to search for underexplored hypotheses. This work is the first step in a much larger project linking stromatolite morphogenesis to environmental and biological factors.