>At 06:06 PM 2/9/99 -0700, Kevin wrote:
>>There were volcanoes and deserts (a major source of dust), as well as
soils,
>>in the Cambrian as well. Could you please provide citations that describe
>>these sterile halites? The references I have claim that halites
universally
>>contain impurities. Thanks.
>
>Whether the halites were sterile with respect to bacteria or dust was not
>the point I was making. The statement that they generally lack
>palynomorphs is based upon my experience of processing hundreds of samples
>of Paleozoic salt for pollen and spores. Except for occasional
>unidentifiable "organic" debris, they were in our parlance "sterile"
>palynologically.
>
So, are you saying that the halites you have examined were NOT pure, that
they contained inorganic impurities like volcanic dust or soil, but were
devoid of organic impurities?
Kevin L. O'Brien