Current Projects
Ooids and the geologic record of shallow water carbonate chemistry
Ooids are concentrically coated chemical sand grains composed of calcium carbonate (calcite or aragonite) that occur ubiquitously in carbonate sequences of all ages. Our recent work using experiments, modeling, and modern field investigations has demonstrated that ooid size reflects a dynamic equilibrium between chemical and physical processes (i.e., precipitation and abrasion, respectively). Current and recent projects, including collaborations at CU with Carl Simpson and Jeff Cameron and collaboration with Jon Payne (Stanford), Ardi Koeshidayatullah (KFUPM), and Ben Smith (Caltech) build on this work to better characterize the links between physical transport and ooid growth in modern environments, revisit the enigmatic phenomena of giant ooids (ooids larger than 2 mm in diameter) in the context of the dynamic equilibrium model, and explore the Phanerozoic record of marine ooid sizes. Lizzy is also beginning a project to characterize variation in ooid size in Cenozoic lacustrine carbonate strata in the western US, supported by an NSF CAREER Award.
Ooids are concentrically coated chemical sand grains composed of calcium carbonate (calcite or aragonite) that occur ubiquitously in carbonate sequences of all ages. Our recent work using experiments, modeling, and modern field investigations has demonstrated that ooid size reflects a dynamic equilibrium between chemical and physical processes (i.e., precipitation and abrasion, respectively). Current and recent projects, including collaborations at CU with Carl Simpson and Jeff Cameron and collaboration with Jon Payne (Stanford), Ardi Koeshidayatullah (KFUPM), and Ben Smith (Caltech) build on this work to better characterize the links between physical transport and ooid growth in modern environments, revisit the enigmatic phenomena of giant ooids (ooids larger than 2 mm in diameter) in the context of the dynamic equilibrium model, and explore the Phanerozoic record of marine ooid sizes. Lizzy is also beginning a project to characterize variation in ooid size in Cenozoic lacustrine carbonate strata in the western US, supported by an NSF CAREER Award.
Fingerprinting microbe-mineral interactions in carbonates
Microbes can play important roles in promoting the precipitation of carbonate minerals, contributing to a key geobiological archive linking ancient environments and microbial communities via carbon cycling. However, the fingerprints of microbial communities in carbonate sediments can be subtle—they do not all produce easily-identifiable macroscopic structures like stromatolites—and are therefore difficult to identify and interpret. Our work focuses on better understanding and identifying the signatures of microbially-mediated carbonate precipitation at the grain-scale—including mineral microfabric and geochemical composition—to improve our ability to recognize and interpret their occurrences in the rock record. Current projects focus on the effects of microbial metabolic activity on mineral composition, fabric, and stable isotopes in Great Salt Lake (collaboration with Miquela Ingalls (Penn State), Carie Frantz (Weber State), and Katie Snell (CU)); investigating the limits of microbial trapping-and-binding on Little Ambergris Cay (Turks and Caicos Islands) (collaboration with Irina Overeem (CU) and Maya Gomes (JHU)); and exploring the ecophysiology of endolithic Cyanobacteria in a range of marine carbonate environments (collaboration with Usha Lingappa (UC Berkeley)).
Microbes can play important roles in promoting the precipitation of carbonate minerals, contributing to a key geobiological archive linking ancient environments and microbial communities via carbon cycling. However, the fingerprints of microbial communities in carbonate sediments can be subtle—they do not all produce easily-identifiable macroscopic structures like stromatolites—and are therefore difficult to identify and interpret. Our work focuses on better understanding and identifying the signatures of microbially-mediated carbonate precipitation at the grain-scale—including mineral microfabric and geochemical composition—to improve our ability to recognize and interpret their occurrences in the rock record. Current projects focus on the effects of microbial metabolic activity on mineral composition, fabric, and stable isotopes in Great Salt Lake (collaboration with Miquela Ingalls (Penn State), Carie Frantz (Weber State), and Katie Snell (CU)); investigating the limits of microbial trapping-and-binding on Little Ambergris Cay (Turks and Caicos Islands) (collaboration with Irina Overeem (CU) and Maya Gomes (JHU)); and exploring the ecophysiology of endolithic Cyanobacteria in a range of marine carbonate environments (collaboration with Usha Lingappa (UC Berkeley)).
Secular evolution of the silica cycle
Late Proterozoic time marks a major change in marine silica cycle - a biological revolution when early eukaryotes (first sponges, then radiolarians) began to precipitate skeletons composed of amorphous silica. This marked the end of a Precambrian era in which the silica cycle was controlled by chemical processes like abiotic precipitation and adsorption onto other materials including clays and iron phases, with significant consequences for the concentration of dissolved silica in seawater and the size and distribution of chemical silica sinks. In collaboration with Carl Simpson (CU) and Woody Fischer (Caltech), we are applying sedimentology, petrography, and in situ Si isotope geochemistry to understand the spatial and temporal pace of this transition from a chemically- to biologically-dominated silica cycle - in particular how it might record the evolution and spread of early silica-biomineralizing organisms.
Late Proterozoic time marks a major change in marine silica cycle - a biological revolution when early eukaryotes (first sponges, then radiolarians) began to precipitate skeletons composed of amorphous silica. This marked the end of a Precambrian era in which the silica cycle was controlled by chemical processes like abiotic precipitation and adsorption onto other materials including clays and iron phases, with significant consequences for the concentration of dissolved silica in seawater and the size and distribution of chemical silica sinks. In collaboration with Carl Simpson (CU) and Woody Fischer (Caltech), we are applying sedimentology, petrography, and in situ Si isotope geochemistry to understand the spatial and temporal pace of this transition from a chemically- to biologically-dominated silica cycle - in particular how it might record the evolution and spread of early silica-biomineralizing organisms.
Publications
student author, postdoc author, †senior or co-senior author, *co-first authors
2023
2023
- Stein, N. T., †Grotzinger, J. P., Quinn, D. P., Lingappa, U. F., Present, T. M., Trower, E. J., Gomes, M.L., Orzechowski, E., Cantine, M., Metcalfe, K. S., Fischer, W. W., Ehlmann, B. L., Strauss, J. V., and Knoll, A. H. (in press). Geomorphic and environmental controls on microbial mat fabrics on Little Ambergris Cay, Turks and Caicos Islands. Sedimentology.
- Trower, E. J.*, Gutoski, J. R.*, Wala, V. T., Mackey, T. M., and Simpson, C. (2023) Tonian low-latitude marineecosystems were cold before Snowball Earth. Geophysical Research Letters 50 (5), e2022GL101903. doi.org/10.1029/2022GL1019032022
- Lincoln, T., Webb, S.M.,Present, T. M., Magyar, J. M., and †Trower, E. J. (2022). Paragenetic history of multiple mineral phases in ooids from Great Salt Lake, UT. The Sedimentary Record 20 (1). doi.org/10.2110/001c.56183
- Trower, E. J., Smith, B. P., Koeshidayatullah, A., and Payne, J. L. (2022). Marine ooid sizes record Phanerozoic seawater carbonate chemistry. Geophysical Research Letters 49 (22), e2022GL100800. doi.org/10.1029/2022GL100800
- Aronson, H. S., Monteverde, D., Barnes, B. D., Johnson, B. R., Zawaski, M. J., Speth, D. R., Wang, X. T., Wu, F., Webb, S. M., Trower, E. J., Magyar, J. M., Sessions, A. L., Orphan, V. J., Geobiology Course 2017, Geobiology Course 2018, and †Fischer, W. W. (2022) Sulfur Cycling at Natural Hydrocarbon and Sulfur Seeps in Santa Paula Creek, CA. Geobiology 20 (5), 707-725. doi.org/10.1111/gbi.12512
- Koeshidayatullah, A., Trower, E. J., Li, X., Mukerji, T., Lehrmann, D. J., Morsilli, M., Al-Ramadan, K., and †Payne, J. L. (2022). Quantitative evaluation of the roles of ocean chemistry and climate on ooid size across the Phanerozoic: global versus local controls. Sedimentology 69 (6), 2486-2506. doi.org/10.1111/sed.12998
- Lingappa, U. F., Stein, N. T., Metcalfe, K. S., Present, T. M., Orphan, V. J., Knoll, A. H., Grotzinger, J. P., †Trower, E. J., †Gomes, M. L., and †Fischer, W. W. (2022). Early impacts of climate change on a microbial mat ecosystem. Science Advances 8 (21), eabm7826. doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abm7826
- Ingalls, M., Fetrow, A. C., Snell, K. E., Frantz, C. M., and †Trower, E. J. (2022). Lake level controls the recurrence of giant stromatolite facies. Sedimentology 69 (4), 1649-1674. doi.org/10.1111/sed.12967
- Trower, E. J., Strauss, J. V., Sperling, E. A., and Fischer, W. W. (2021). Isotope analyses of Ordovician-Silurian siliceous skeletons indicate silica-depleted Paleozoic oceans. Geobiology 19(5), 460-472. doi.org/10.1111/gbi.12449
- Present, T. M., Gomes, M. E., Trower, E. J., Stein, N. T., Lingappa, U. F., Naviaux, J., Thorpe, M., Fischer, W. W., Knoll, A. H., and †Grotzinger, John P. (2021). Non-lithifying microbial ecosystem dissolves peritidal lime sand. Nature Communications 12 (1), 1-8. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-23006-1
- Li, X., Trower, E. J., Lehrmann, D. J., Minzoni, M., Kelley, B. M., Schaal, E. K., Yu, M., and †Payne, J. L. (2020). Implications of giant ooids for the carbonate chemistry of Early Triassic seawater. Geology 49(2), 156-161. https://doi.org/10.1130/G47655.1
- Smith, B. P., Ingalls, M., Trower, E. J., Lingappa, U. F., Present, T. M., Magyar, J. M., and †Fischer, W. W. (2020). Physical and chemical controls on carbonate intraclasts: an analog for ancient flat pebble deposits from the Great Salt Lake, Utah. JGR-Earth Surface 125(11), e2020JF005733. https://doi.org/10.1029/2020JF005733
- Jamison-Todd, S., Stein, N., Overeem, I., Khalid, A., and Trower, E. J. (2020). Hurricane Deposits on Carbonate Platforms: a case study of Hurricane Irma deposits on Little Ambergris Cay, Turks and Caicos Islands. JGR-Earth Surface 125(8), e2020JF005597. https://doi.org/10.1029/2020JF005597
- Trower, E. J., Bridgers, S., Lamb, M. P., and Fischer, W. W. (2020) Ooid cortical stratigraphy reveals common histories of individual co-occurring sedimentary grains. JGR-Earth Surface 125(7), e2019JF005452. https://doi.org/10.1029/2019JF005452
- Ingalls, M., Frantz, C. M., Snell, K., and Trower, E. J. (2020) Carbonate facies-specific stable isotope data record climate, hydrology, and microbial communities in Great Salt Lake, UT. Geobiology 18(5), 566-593. https://doi.org/10.1111/gbi.12386
- Trower, E. J. (2020) The enigma of Neoproterozoic giant ooids—Fingerprints of extreme climate? Geophysical Research Letters 47(7), e2019GL086146. https://doi.org/10.1029/2019GL086146
- Trower, E. J. and Fischer, W. W. (2019). Precambrian Si isotope mass balance, weathering, and the significance of the authigenic clay silica sink. Sedimentary Geology 384, 1-11. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sedgeo.2019.02.008
- Trower, E. J., Lamb, M. P., and Fischer, W. W. (2019). The origin of carbonate mud. Geophysical Research Letters 46(5), 2696-2703. https://doi.org/10.1029/2018GL081620
- Trower, E. J., Cantine, M., Gomes, M., Lingappa, U. F., O'Reilly, S., Present, T. M., Stein, N., Strauss, J. V., Lamb, M. P., Grotzinger, J. P., Knoll, A. H., and Fischer, W. W. (2018). Active ooid growth driven by sediment transport in a high energy shoal, Little Ambergris Cay, Turks and Caicos Islands. Journal of Sedimentary Research 88 (9), 1132-1151. https://doi.org/10.2110/jsr.2018.59
- Trower, E. J., Ganti, V., Fischer, W. W., and Lamb, M. P. (2018). Erosional surfaces in the Upper Cretaceous Castlegate Sandstone (Utah, USA): Sequence boundaries or autogenic scour from backwater hydrodynamics? Geology 46 (8), 707-710. https://doi.org/10.1130/G40273.1
- Trower, E. J., Lamb, M. P., and Fischer, W. W. (2017). Experimental evidence that ooid size reflects a dynamic equilibrium between rapid precipitation and abrasion rates. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 468, 112-118.
- Trower, E. J., and Lowe, D. R. (2016). Sedimentology of the ~3.3 Ga upper Mendon Formation, Barberton Greenstone Belt, South Africa. Precambrian Research 281, 473-494.
- Stefurak, E. J. T., Lowe, D. R., Zentner, D., and Fischer, W. W. (2015). Sedimentology and geochemistry of Archean silica granules. GSA Bulletin 127 (7-8), 1090-1107.
- Decker, N. B., Byerly, G. R., Thompson Stiegler, M., Lowe, D. R., and Stefurak, E. (2015). High resolution tephra and U/Pb chronology of the 3.33-3.26 Ga Mendon Formation, Barberton Greenstone Belt, South Africa. Precambrian Research 261, 54-74.
- Stefurak, E. J. T., Fischer, W. W., and Lowe, D. R. (2015). Texture-specific Si isotope variations in Barberton Greenstone Belt cherts record low temperature fractionations in early Archean seawater. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 150, 26-52.
- Stefurak, E. J. T., Lowe, D. R., Zentner, D., and Fischer, W. W. (2014). Primary silica granules – A new mode of early Archean sedimentation. Geology 42 (4), 283-286.
- Trower, E. and Grotzinger, J. (2010). Sedimentology, diagenesis, and stratigraphic occurrence of giant ooids in the Ediacaran Rainstorm Member, Johnnie Formation, Death Valley region, California. Precambrian Research 180, 113-124.