2012 PROSE Award, Earth Science: Honorable Mention
For more than fifty years scientists have been concerned with the interrelationships of Earth and life. Over the past decade, however, geobiology, the name given to this interdisciplinary endeavour, has emerged as an exciting and rapidly expanding field, fuelled by advances in molecular phylogeny, a new microbial ecology made possible by the molecular revolution, increasingly sophisticated new techniques for imaging and determining chemical compositions of solids on nanometer scales, the development of non-traditional stable isotope analyses, Earth systems science and Earth system history, and accelerating exploration of other planets within and beyond our solar system. Geobiology has many faces: there is the microbial weathering of minerals, bacterial and skeletal biomineralization, the roles of autotrophic and heterotrophic metabolisms in elemental cycling, the redox history in the oceans and its relationship to evolution and the origin of life itself..
This book is the first to set out a coherent set of principles that underpin geobiology, and will act as a foundational text that will speed the dissemination of those principles. The chapters have been carefully chosen to provide intellectually rich but concise summaries of key topics, and each has been written by one or more of the leading scientists in that field..
Fundamentals of Geobiology is aimed at advanced undergraduates and graduates in the Earth and biological sciences, and to the growing number of scientists worldwide who have an interest in this burgeoning new discipline.
Additional resources for this book can be found at: http://www.wiley.com/go/knoll/geobiology.
Table of Contents:
Contributors, xi 1. What is Geobiology?, 1
Andrew H. Knoll, Donald E. Canfield, and Kurt O. Konhauser
1.1 Introduction, 1
1.2 Life interacting with the Earth, 2
1.3 Pattern and process in geobiology, 2
1.4 New horizons in geobiology, 3
2. The Global Carbon Cycle: Biological Processes, 5
Paul G. Falkowski
2.1 Introduction, 5
2.2 A brief primer on redox reactions, 5
2.3 Carbon as a substrate for biological reactions, 5
2.4 The evolution of photosynthesis, 8
2.5 The evolution of oxygenic phototrophs, 11
2.6 Net primary production, 13
2.7 What limits NPP on land and in the ocean?, 15
2.8 Is NPP in balance with respiration?, 16
2.9 Conclusions and extensions, 17
3. The Global Carbon Cycle: Geological Processes, 20
Klaus Wallmann and Giovanni Aloisi
3.1 Introduction, 20
3.2 Organic carbon cycling, 20
3.3 Carbonate cycling, 22
3.4 Mantle degassing, 23
3.5 Metamorphism, 24
3.6 Silicate weathering, 24
3.7 Feedbacks, 25
3.8 Balancing the geological carbon cycle, 26
3.9 Evolution of the geological carbon cycle through Earth's history: proxies and models, 27
3.10 The geological C cycle through time, 30
3.11 Limitations and perspectives, 32
4. The Global Nitrogen Cycle, 36
Bess Ward
4.1 Introduction, 36
4.2 Geological nitrogen cycle, 36
4.3 Components of the global nitrogen cycle, 38
4.4 Nitrogen redox chemistry, 40
4.5 Biological reactions of the nitrogen cycle, 40
4.6 Atmospheric nitrogen chemistry, 45
4.7 Summary and areas for future research, 46
5. The Global Sulfur Cycle, 49
Donald E. Canfield and James Farquhar
5.1 Introduction, 49
5.2 The global sulfur cycle from two perspectives, 49
5.3 The evolution of S metabolisms, 53
5.4 The interaction of S with other biogeochemical cycles, 55
5.5 The evolution of the S cycle, 59
5.6 Closing remarks, 61
6. The Global Iron Cycle, 65
Brian Kendall, Ariel D. Anbar, Andreas Kappler and Kurt O. Konhauser
6.1 Overview, 65
6.2 The inorganic geochemistry of iron: redox and reservoirs, 65
6.3 Iron in modern biology and biogeochemical cycles, 69
6.4 Iron through time, 73
6.5 Summary, 83
7. The Global Oxygen Cycle, 93
James F. Kasting and Donald E. Canfield
7.1 Introduction, 93
7.2 The chemistry and biochemistry of oxygen, 93
7.3 The concept of redox balance, 94
7.4 The modern O2 cycle, 94
7.5 Cycling of O2 and H2 on the early Earth, 98
7.6 Synthesis: speculations about the timing and cause of the rise of atmospheric O2, 102
8. Bacterial Biomineralization, 105
Kurt Konhauser and Robert Riding
8.1 Introduction, 105
8.2 Mineral nucleation and growth, 105
8.3 How bacteria facilitate biomineralization, 106
8.4 Iron oxyhydroxides, 111
8.5 Calcium carbonates, 116
9. Mineral–Organic–Microbe Interfacial Chemistry, 131
David J. Vaughan and Jonathan R. Lloyd
9.1 Introduction, 131
9.2 The mineral surface (and mineral–bio interface) and techniques for its study, 131
9.3 Mineral-organic-microbe interfacial processes: some key examples, 140
10. Eukaryotic Skeletal Formation, 150
Adam F. Wallace, Dongbo Wang, Laura M. Hamm, Andrew H. Knoll and Patricia M. Dove
10.1 Introduction, 150
10.2 Mineralization by unicellular organisms, 151
10.3 Mineralization by multicellular organisms, 164
10.4 A brief history of skeletons, 173
10.5 Summary, 175
11. Plants and Animals as Geobiological Agents, 188
David J. Beerling and Nicholas J. Butterfield
11.1 Introduction, 188
11.2 Land plants as geobiological agents, 188
11.3 Animals as geobiological agents, 195
11.4 Conclusions, 200
12. A Geobiological View of Weathering and Erosion, 205
Susan L. Brantley, Marina Lebedeva and Elisabeth M. Hausrath
12.1 Introduction, 205
12.2 Effects of biota on weathering, 207
12.3 Effects of organic molecules on weathering, 209
12.4 Organomarkers in weathering solutions, 211
12.5 Elemental profiles in regolith, 213
12.6 Time evolution of profile development, 217
12.7 Investigating chemical, physical, and biological weathering with simple models, 218
12.8 Conclusions, 222
13. Molecular Biology’s Contributions to Geobiology, 228
Dianne K. Newman, Victoria J. Orphan and Anna-Louise Reysenbach
13.1 Introduction, 228
13.2 Molecular approaches used in geobiology, 229
13.3 Case study: anaerobic oxidation of methane, 238
13.4 Challenges and opportunities for the next generation, 242
14. Stable Isotope Geobiology, 250
D.T. Johnston and W.W. Fischer
14.1 Introduction, 250
14.2 Isotopic notation and the biogeochemical elements, 253
14.3 Tracking fractionation in a system, 255
14.4 Applications, 258
14.5 Using isotopes to ask a geobiological question in deep time, 261
14.6 Conclusions, 265
15. Biomarkers: Informative Molecules for Studies in Geobiology, 269
Roger E. Summons and Sara A. Lincoln
15.1 Introduction, 269
15.2 Origins of biomarkers, 269
15.3 Diagenesis, 269
15.4 Isotopic compositions, 270
15.5 Stereochemical considerations, 272
15.6 Lipid biosynthetic pathways, 273
15.7 Classification of lipids, 273
15.8 Lipids diagnostic of Archaea, 277
15.9 Lipids diagnostic of Bacteria, 280
15.10 Lipids of Eukarya, 283
15.11 Preservable cores, 283
15.12 Outlook, 287
16. The Fossil Record of Microbial Life, 297
Andrew H. Knoll
16.1 Introduction, 297
16.2 The nature of Earth’s early microbial record, 297
16.3 Paleobiological inferences from microfossil morphology, 299
16.4 Inferences from microfossil chemistry and ultrastructure (new technologies), 302
16.5 Inferences from microbialites, 306
16.6 A brief history, with questions, 308
16.7 Conclusions, 311
17. Geochemical Origins of Life, 315
Robert M. Hazen
17.1 Introduction, 315
17.2 Emergence as a unifying concept in origins research, 315
17.3 The emergence of biomolecules, 317
17.4 The emergence of macromolecules, 320
17.5 The emergence of self-replicating systems, 323
17.6 The emergence of natural selection, 326
17.7 Three scenarios for the origins of life, 327
18. Mineralogical Co-evolution of the Geosphere and Biosphere, 333
Robert M. Hazen and Dominic Papineau
18.1 Introduction, 333
18.2 Prebiotic mineral evolution I – evidence from meteorites, 334
18.3 Prebiotic mineral evolution II – crust and mantle reworking, 335
18.4 The anoxic Archean biosphere, 336
18.5 The Great Oxidation Event, 340
18.6 A billion years of stasis, 341
18.7 The snowball Earth, 341
18.8 The rise of skeletal mineralization, 342
18.9 Summary, 343
19. Geobiology of the Archean Eon, 351
Roger Buick
19.1 Introduction, 351
19.2 Carbon cycle, 351
19.3 Sulfur cycle, 354
19.4 Iron cycle, 355
19.5 Oxygen cycle, 357
19.6 Nitrogen cycle, 359
19.7 Phosphorus cycle, 360
19.8 Bioaccretion of sediment, 360
19.9 Bioalteration, 365
19.10 Conclusions, 366
20. Geobiology of the Proterozoic Eon, 371
Timothy W. Lyons, Christopher T. Reinhard, Gordon D. Love and Shuhai Xiao
20.1 Introduction, 371
20.2 The Great Oxidation Event, 371
20.3 The early Proterozoic: Era geobiology in the wake of the GOE, 372
20.4 The mid-Proterozoic: a last gasp of iron formations, deep ocean anoxia, the 'boring' billion, and a mid-life crisis, 375
20.5 The history of Proterozoic life: biomarker records, 381
20.6 The history of Proterozoic life: mid-Proterozoic fossil record, 383
20.7 The late Proterozoic: a supercontinent, oxygen, ice, and the emergence of animals, 384
20.8 Summary, 392
21. Geobiology of the Phanerozoic, 403
Steven M. Stanley
21.1 The beginning of the Phanerozoic Eon, 403
21.2 Cambrian mass extinctions, 405
21.3 The terminal Ordovician mass extinction, 405
21.4 The impact of early land plants, 406
21.5 Silurian biotic crises, 406
21.6 Devonian mass extinctions, 406
21.7 Major changes of the global ecosystem in Carboniferous time, 406
21.8 Low-elevation glaciation near the equator, 407
21.9 Drying of climates, 408
21.10 A double mass extinction in the Permian, 408
21.11 The absence of recovery in the early Triassic, 409
21.12 The terminal Triassic crisis, 409
21.13 The rise of atmospheric oxygen since early in Triassic time, 410
21.14 The Toarcian anoxic event, 410
21.15 Phytoplankton, planktonic foraminifera, and the carbon cycle, 411
21.16 Diatoms and the silica cycle, 411
21.17 Cretaceous climates, 411
21.18 The sudden Paleocene–Eocene climatic shift, 414
21.19 The cause of the Eocene–Oligocene climatic shift, 415
21.20 The re-expansion of reefs during Oligocene time, 416
21.21 Drier climates and cascading evolutionary radiations on the land, 416
22. Geobiology of the Anthropocene, 425
Daniel P. Schrag
22.1 Introduction, 425
22.2 The Anthropocene, 425
22.3 When did the Anthropocene begin?, 426
22.4 Geobiology and human population, 427
22.5 Human appropriation of the Earth, 428
22.6 The carbon cycle and climate of the Anthropocene, 430
22.7 The future of geobiology, 433
Acknowledgements, 434
References, 435
Index, 437
Colour plate pages fall between pp. 228 and 229
