Our preferred palaeoenvironmental reconstruction is one of agglutinated
microbial reefs to cluster reefs. The microbial reefs are formed by
the cyanobacterial microbialites Tubiphytes and Archaeolithoporella, with a few large
cavities filled by botryoidal cements and subordinate skeletal elements. The cluster
reefs are made by in-place conical skeletons of Gundaria insolita n. gen. n. sp. that
were adjacent but not always in contact with the substrate. The Gundaira insolita
were also able to trap loose sediment, which indicates that the reefs are matrixsupported.
In-place, pedicle-attached species contributed to the framework and helped
trap the matrix. These reefs were likely laterally extensive despite their low
topographic relief, which is consistent with the mostly bedded nature of the Gundara
Formation. The abundance of matrix and the reduced cementation and bioerosion
suggest muddy depositional environments, which were probably deeper and more
turbid than those of the Safetdara Formation.