Future work includes laboratory experiments to model wrinkle formation in turbidites and to broaden the consideration of chemosynthetic origins in wrinkle-structure research.

The study is published as 'Chemosynthetic microbial communities formed wrinkle structures in ancient turbidites' in Geology, December 2025, with the DOI 10.1130/G53617.1.

Geology, chemistry, and modern analogs collectively indicate that chemosynthetic microbes formed and preserved wrinkle structures in ancient turbidites, not photosynthetic organisms.

The studied turbidites date to about 180 million years ago and formed in conditions where animal disturbance and lack of sunlight would typically erase such textures, challenging assumptions about their preservation.

This discovery broadens the contexts for wrinkle structures and suggests chemosynthetic mats should be considered when searching for early life in environments once thought inhospitable.

Biotic origin is supported by elevated carbon levels in substrate layers beneath the wrinkles and by parallels to modern chemosynthetic microbial mats found in deep-water, low-oxygen settings.

The proposed mechanism involves turbidity currents delivering nutrients and organic matter, creating low-oxygen habitats in which chemosynthetic life thrived, with bacterial mats wrinkling as they aged during quiet deposition intervals.

A paleoecologist, Dr. Rowan Martindale, and team found wrinkle structures in ancient deep-water turbidites in Morocco’s Dadès Valley, pointing to biotic, chemosynthetic activity rather than photosynthesis.

Wrinkle structures are small ridges and pits formed by microbial mats, typically linked to shallow, lighted environments, making their presence in deep-water settings particularly surprising.