Geologic significance of boring and cavity-dwelling marine algae

In the last decade an upsurge of interest in marine boring (endolithic) algae and fungi and their geologic effects has occurred. Among the most profound results of this upsurge has been a realization that endolithic algae and fungi are powerful diagenetic and sedimentologic agents in carbonate environments, and that they appear to have been so since at least Lower Cambrian time.

Particle micritization, grain binding, and geochemical and carbonate mineralogical alteration are among the important processes in which these algae and fungi play a role. Where preserved in ancient rocks, they also have great yet largely untapped utility in paleoecological studies, and in the determination of paleobathymetry and possibly depths of paleophotic zones.