The extant shore platform stromatolite (SPS) facies association: a glimpse into the Archean?

Shore platform stromatolites (SPS) were first noted at Cape Morgan on the south-eastAfrican seaboard. Since then they have been found growing discontinuously in rockyperitidal zones along the entire southern African seaboard. They have also been found onthe southwest Australian coast, at Giant's Causeway in Northern Ireland, and more recentlyat Harris on the Scottish Hebridean Atlantic coast. In this paper SPS occurrence and SPSpotential as analogues for Precambrian fossil stromatolites, as well as potential stromatolite occurrences in shore platform regions on Mars, are assessed. Sub-horizontal surfaces promote stromatolite development, while tufa develops on cliffs and steep rocky surfaces.Tufa and stromatolites are end members of a spectrum dictated by coastal topography.