Microbially induced sedimentary structures (and dinosaur tracks)

["Paul H." <oxytropidoceras@cox.net>]

In "Microbially induced sedimentary structures" at
http://dml.cmnh.org/2015Jan/msg00013.html ,
Erik Boehm wrote,

"I was wondering if anyone here would be better able to 
evaluate the claims, and perhaps answer my above 
questions about the prevalence of pre-cambrian MISS 
fossils."

There are books that discuss in detail microbialites 
and microbially induced sedimentary structures of 
Precambrian another  ages that should help answer your 
questions. They are, 

Schieber, J., P. K. Bose, P. G. Eriksson, and others,
eds., 2007, Atlas of Microbial Mat Features Preserved 
within the Siliciclastic Rock Record, Atlases in 
Geoscience vol. 2. Elsevier Science, New York.
324 pp. ISBN 978-0444528599

Noffke, N., 2010, Geobiology: Microbial Mats in Sandy 
Deposits from the Archean Era to Today. Springer-Verlag, 
Berlin Heidelberg. 194 pp., ISBN 978-3-642-12771-7

Seckbach, J., and A. Oren, eds., 2010, Microbial Mats: 
Modern and Ancient Microorganisms in Stratified 
Systems. Springer Dordrecht, Heidelberg. 606 pp. 
ISBN 978-90-481-3798-5

Microbial mats can be associated with dinsoaur and
types of fossil track as seen in the below papers:

Marty, D., A. Strasser, and C. A. Meyer, 2009,
Formation and  taphonomy of human footprints in
microbial mats of present-day tidal-flat environments:
implications for the study of fossil footprints. Ichnos.
vol. 16, no. 1–2, pp. 127–142.
http://www.academia.edu/692708/Formation_and_taphonomy_of_human_footprints_in_microbial_mats_of_present-day_tidal-flat_environments_implications_for_the_study_of_fossil_footprints

Carvalho, I. de Souza, L. Borghi, and G. Leonardi
2013, Preservation of dinosaur tracks induced by 
microbial mats in the Sousa Basin (Lower Cretaceous), 
Brazil. Cretaceous Research. vol. 44, pp. 112–121.
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0195667113000773
http://www.igeo.ufrj.br/~ismar/3/3_44.pdf

Dai, H., L. Xing , D. Marty, J. Zhang, W. S. Persons,
H. Hu, and Fengping Wang, 2015, Microbially-induced
sedimentary wrinkle structures and possible impact
of microbial mats for the enhanced preservation of
dinosaur tracks from the Lower Cretaceous Jiaguan
Formation near Qijiang (Chongqing, China) Cretaceous
Research. vol. 53, article no. 98e109
http://www.xinglida.net/pdf/Dai_et_al_2015_Microbial_mats.pdf

More PDF files about Chinese fossil trackways can be
found and downloaded from http://www.xinglida.net

Finally, although unrelated to microbial mats, there
is summary paper (book chapter) about the well-known 
dinosaur tracks of Dinosaur Valley State Park, Texas
that should interest people at:

Farlow, J. O. M. O'brien, G. J. Kuban, B. F. Dattilo, 
K. T. Bates, P. L. Falkingham, L. Pinuela, A. Rose, 
A. Freels, C. Kumagai, C. Libben, J. Smith, and J. 
Whitcraft, 2012, Dinosaur Tracksites of the Paluxy 
River Valley (Glen Rose Formation, Lower Cretaceous), 
Dinosaur Valley State Park, Somervell County, Texas. 
Actas de V Jrnadas Internacionales sobre Paleontologia 
de Dinosaurios y su Entorno, Salas de los Infantes,
Burgos. pp. 41 - 69. http://opus.ipfw.edu/geosci_facpubs/69
and http://opus.ipfw.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1059&context=geosci_facpubs

Yours,

Paul Heinrich
Baton Rouge, Louisiana