MORPHOLOGICAL AND PETROGRAPHIC ANALYSIS OF NEWLY IDENTIFIED STROMATOLITIC OCCURRENCES IN THE LAGOA DO JACARE FORMATION, BAMBUI GROUP, STATE OF MINAS GERAIS, BRAZIL

Here we catalog, for the first time, the known stromatolite-containing localities and morphologies found in outcrops previously attributed, by past mapping efforts, to the Lagoa do Jacare Formation, Bambui Group. Unlike the Sete Lagoas Formation, which has already provided several crucial samples containing a substantial variety of microbialitic forms and microfossils, the fossiliferous potential of the Lagoa do Jacare Formation has not been properly assessed. Surprisingly, a relatively diverse variety of forms was found, including domal, various columnar, laminites and columnar-layered stromatolites. Morphological and petrographical descriptions were made and six microfabrics were unveiled, shedding light into the environmental conditions likely to have been involved in their formation.