The distribution of major phosphate deposits in the Precambrian sedimentary rock record is restricted to periods that witnessed global biogeochemical changes, but the cause of this distribution is unclear. The oldest known phosphogenic event occurred around 2.0 Ga and was followed, after more than 1.3 billion years, by an even larger phosphogenic event in the Neoproterozoic. Phosphorites (phosphate-rich sedimentary rocks that contain more than 15% P ₂ O ₅ ) preserve a unique record of seawater chemistry, biological activity, and oceanographic changes. In an attempt to emphasize the potentially crucial significance of phosphorites in the evolution of Proterozoic biogeochemical cycles, this contribution provides a review of some important Paleoproterozoic phosphate deposits and of models proposed for their origin. A new model is then presented for the spatial and temporal modes of occurrence of phosphorites along with possible connections to global changes at both ends of the Proterozoic. Central to the new model is that periods of atmospheric oxygenation may have been caused by globally elevated rates of primary productivity stimulated by high fluxes of phosphorus delivery to seawater as a result of increased chemical weathering of continental crust over geological timescales. The striking similarities in biogeochemical evolution between the Paleo- and Neoproterozoic are discussed in light of the two oldest major phosphogenic events and their possible relation to the stepwise rise of atmospheric oxygen that ultimately resulted in significant leaps in biological evolution. Key Words: Precambrian—Primary productivity—Phosphorus—Biogeochemical evolution—Great Oxidation Event. Astrobiology 10, 165–181.

Stromatolites, organosedimentary structures formed by microbial activity, are found throughout the geological record and are important markers of biological history. More conspicuous in the past, stromatolites occur today in a few shallow marine environments, including Hamelin Pool in Shark Bay, Western Australia. Hamelin Pool stromatolites often have been considered contemporary analogs to ancient stromatolites, yet little is known about the microbial communities that build them. We used DNA-based molecular phylogenetic methods that do not require cultivation to study the microbial diversity of an irregular stromatolite and of the surface and interior of a domal stromatolite. To identify the constituents of the stromatolite communities, small subunit rRNA genes were amplified by PCR from community genomic DNA with universal primers, cloned, sequenced, and compared to known rRNA genes. The communities were highly diverse and novel. The average sequence identity of Hamelin Pool sequences compared to the >200,000 known rRNA sequences was only ∼92%. Clone libraries were ∼90% bacterial and ∼10% archaeal, and eucaryotic rRNA genes were not detected in the libraries. The most abundant sequences were representative of novel proteobacteria (∼28%), planctomycetes (∼17%), and actinobacteria (∼14%). Sequences representative of cyanobacteria, long considered to dominate these communities, comprised <5% of clones. Approximately 10% of the sequences were most closely related to those of α-proteobacterial anoxygenic phototrophs. These results provide a framework for understanding the kinds of organisms that build contemporary stromatolites, their ecology, and their relevance to stromatolites preserved in the geological record.