Founding of the term 'stromatolite': Ernst Louis Kalkowsky (1851-1938) and his early stromatolite research

Abstract

Today, stromatolites are well investigated and known worldwide, from the Archaean to Recent. Only 100 years ago, the situation was completely different. As late as in the early twentieth century, the German Professor Ernst Louis Kalkowsky (1851-1938) was engaged intensively in the research of stromatolitic and oolitic structures from the German Buntsandstein (Lower Triassic, Skythian), and interpreted them. His achievements in this field are of high relevance, especially in the case of stromatolites, even until today. He also established the terms "Stromatolith" [= "stromatolite"] and "Ooid" [= "ooid"], which were later universally accepted for analogous structures. Here we present an overview of E. L. Kalkowsky's life and his importance for the early stromatolite research. © 2011 Springer Berlin Heidelberg.