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Creation Day 3: God creates the "chemical" breath of life
God's step-by-step 'timed process' in creating plants on Earth.
Cyanobacteria, also known as blue-green algae , are not plants. They are bacteria that perform photosynthesis in a similar manner to green plants that contain the light absorbing pigment chlorophyll. These microbe s conduct photosynthesis using sunshine, water and carbon dioxide to produce carbohydrates and, yes, oxygen. They are the oldest and most successful group of living organisms that have survived on earth for over three billion years. They can also live in extreme habitats s uch as hot springs and the under side of glaciers.
The remains of cyanobacteria have created the oldest fossils on earth . Calle d stromatolites , these distinctive dome-shaped, finely layered rocks are formed slowly over time as colonies of cyanobacteria remove carbon dioxide ( CO2 ) in the surrounding water by the process of photosynthesis. This process causes calcium carbonate ( CaCO3 ) to precipitate or solidify from its dissolved state in the water and cements a hard crust over the cyanobacteria, which continues to slowly grow layer after layer until the classic mushroom-shaped stromatolite forms. There are living stromat o lites today but they are very rare. The only known sites where stromatolite colonies are found are Shark Bay, Australia, the Bahamas, and the Great Salt Lake in Utah .
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