Geologists in China's Shanxi Province believe they have discovered China's largest stromatolite, Daynews.com reports.

The largest stromatolite so far discovered in China as shown in this photo published on August 25. [Photo: Daynews.com]

The stromatolite, which is 500 centimeters high and has a diameter of 450 centimeters, was discovered at the foot of Wutai Mountain and it is the largest stromatolite discovered in China. It is thought to be almost 2.3 billion years old.

The Wutai Mountain has a complete sedimentary formation that records the world's prehistoric geological evolution in a time span of 600 million years.

Stromatolites are layered fossil structures formed by microorganisms, such as marine algae, in the shallow waters of the prehistoric world.

(CRI August 26, 2008)