Note: Front cover -- Atlas of Microbial Mat Features Preserved within the Siliciclastic Rock Record -- Copyright page -- List of Editors -- List of Authors -- Acknowledgements -- Contents -- Chapter 1. Prologue: An Introduction to Microbial Mats -- Chapter 2. Structures Left by Modern Microbial Mats in Their Host Sediments -- Introduction -- Organisation of photographic material -- Terminology -- Environmental associations -- Inferred sedimentary and biologic processes, ideas on genesis -- Chapter 3. Classification of Structures Left by Microbial Mats in Their Host Sediments -- Introduction -- Schieber's (2004) classification -- Complex structures -- Conclusions -- Chapter 4. Mat Features in Sandstones -- Introduction -- 4(a). Mat growth features -- 4(b). Diagenetic Features Related to Mat Metabolism and Decay -- 4(c). Mat-Destruction Features -- 4(d). Mat-Decay Features -- 4(f)Diagenetic Mat Features -- Complex Structures Associated with Siliciclastic Biolaminites -- Chapter 5. Microbial Mats on Muddy Substrates - Examples of Possible Sedimentary Features and Underlying Processes -- Introduction -- Features related to mat growth -- Features related to physical forces acting on mat stabilised mud layers -- Features related to mat metabolism -- Features related to mat decay and diagenesis -- Conclusion -- Chapter 6. Discussion of Some Problems: Unusual Features and the Importance of Terminology -- Introduction -- 6(a). `Wrinkle Structures' - A Critical Review -- 6(b). Some Unusual and/or Problematic Inferred Mat-Related Features -- 6(c). Inherent Problems of Terminology: Definition of Terms Frequently Used in Connection with Microbial Mats -- Chapter 7. Examples of Stratigraphic Units Bearing Outstanding Mat Features -- Introduction. , 7(a). Microbially-Induced Sedimentary Structures (MISS) of Early and Middle Archaean Ages - Moodies Group, Pongola Supergroup, Witwatersrand Supergroup (South Africa) -- 7(b). Microbial Mat Features in Terrigenous clastics of the Belt Supergroup, Mid-Proterozoic of Montana, USA -- 7(c). Microbial Mat Features in Mudstones of the Mesoproterozoic Somanpalli Group, Pranhita-Godavari Basin, India -- 7(d). Mat-Related Features from Sandstones of the Vindhyan Supergroup in Central India -- 7(e). Benthic Microbial Mats in Black Shale Units from the Vindhyan Supergroup, Middle Proterozoic of India: The Challenges of Recognising the Genuine Article -- 7(f). Mat-Related Features from the Neoproterozoic Tizi n-Taghatine Group, Anti-Atlas Belt, Morocco -- 7(g). Microbial Mat Sedimentary Structures and Their Relation to Organic-Carbon Burial in the Middle Neoproterozoic Chuar Group, Grand Canyon, Arizona, USA -- 7(h). Mat-Related Features from the Terminal Ediacaran Nudaus Formation, Nama Group, Namibia -- 7(i). Ripple Patches in the Cretaceous Dakota Sandstone Near Denver, Colorado, a Classical Locality for Microbially Bound Tidal Sand Flats -- 7(j). Benthic Microbial Mats as an Oil Shale Component: Green River Formation (Eocene) of Wyoming and Utah -- Chapter 8. New Developments in Research on Microbial Mats -- Introduction -- 8(a). Microbial Mats Built by Iron Bacteria: A Modern Example from Southern Indiana -- 8(b). Disruption of Mats by Seismic Events -- 8(c). Flume Experiments on the Durability of Sandy Microbial Mat Fragments During Transport -- 8(d). Hydraulic Conditions and Mat-Related Structures in Tidal Flats and Coastal Sabkhas -- Appendix A -- Chapter 9. Palaeoenvironmental and Chronological Relationships of Mat-Related Features, and Sequence Stratigraphic Implications of Microbial Mats -- Introduction. , 9(a). Palaeogeography of Microbial Mats in Terrigenous Clastics - Environmental Distribution of Associated Sedimentary Features and the Role of Geologic Time -- 9(b). Sequence stratigraphic context of microbial mat features -- Chapter 10. Conclusions -- Reference List -- Subject Index.