Historical Geology Understanding Our Planet\'s Past

CONTENTS

Tables vi

Acknowledgments vii

Foreword ix

Introduction xi

1 PLANET EARTH:

ORIGIN OF LAND AND LIFE

The Solar System nThe Protoearth nThe Moon n

The Atmosphere nThe Ocean nThe Emergence of Life 1

2 ARCHEAN ALGAE:

THE AGE OF EARLY LIFE

The Age of Algae nThe Protozoans nPhotosynthesis n

Greenstone Belts nArchean Cratons 23

3 PROTEROZOIC METAZOANS:

THE AGE OF COMPLEX ORGANISMS

The Age of Worms nThe Ediacaran Fauna n

Banded Iron Formations nPrecambrian Glaciation n

The Continental Crust 45