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Geology; October 2000; v. 28; no. 10; p. 931-934; DOI: 10.1130/0091-7613(2000)28<931:UCSAPF>2.0.CO;2
© 2000 Geological Society of America
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Unusual calcite stromatolites and pisoids from a landfill leachate collection system

Robert G. Maliva1, Thomas M. Missimer1, Kevin C. Leo2, Richard A. Statom3, Christophe Dupraz4, Matthew Lynn4 and J.A.D. Dickson5

1 Camp Dresser & McKee Inc., 8140 College Parkway, Suite 202, Fort Myers, Florida 33919, USA
2 Camp Dresser & McKee Inc., 1601 Belvedere Road, Suite 211 South, West Palm Beach, Florida 33406, USA
3 Solid Waste Authority, 7501 North Jog Road, West Palm Beach, Florida 33412, USA
4 Geomicrobiology Laboratory, Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Miami, 4600 Rickenbacker Causeway, Miami, Florida 33149, USA
5 Department of Earth Sciences, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3EQ, UK

Low-magnesium calcite stromatolites and pisoids were found to have precipitated within the leachate collection system piping of a Palm Beach County, Florida, landfill. The stromatolites and pisoids formed in an aphotic and anoxic environment that was at times greatly supersaturated with calcite. The stromatolites are composed of branching cylindrical bundles of concentrically laminated radial fibrous crystals. The pisoids consist of concentric layers of radial fibrous and microcrystalline calcite. Bacteria, likely sulfate reducing, appear to have acted as catalysts for calcite crystal nucleation, and thus the formation of the stromatolites and pisoids. The leachate system stromatolites provide a recent example of stromatolites that formed largely by cement precipitation. By acting as catalysts for calcite nucleation, bacteria may cause more rapid cementation than would have occurred under purely abiotic conditions. Rapid calcite precipitation catalyzed by bacteria has interfered with the operation of the Palm Beach County landfill leachate collection by obstructing pipes and may be an unrecognized problem at other landfill sites.

Key Words: stromatolite • landfill • leachate • bacteria




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