Early organic evolution: Implications for mineral and energy resources
- ed.
Early Organic Evolution is the proceedings of the ninth Alfred Wegener Conference, the final meeting of IGCP Project 157 held in Germany in 1988. Over the past 15 years, Project 157 has promoted the blending of organic geochemistry, economic geology, and evolutionary biology. This IGCP publication covers a diverse set of topics and truly reflects the interdisciplinary nature of the field of early organic evolution. In the second and largest section, seventeen papers on organic matter in ancient sediments discuss the chemical analysis of early sediments, gas, and oil. The reader is treated to a review of carbon isotope chemistry and a [delta][sup 13]C walk through the past 3.8 billion years, and even deeper yet into the mantle. Following this is a series of papers carefully describing elemental, isotopic, and organic geochemical (particularly biomarker) data from ancient sediments found throughout the earth. This section ends very strongly with the paper by Fowler on the influence of a single alga on Ordovician oils and rocks from Canada. He first gives a detailed account of the considerable chemical and microscopic evidence showing that minimally reworked Gloeocapsomorpha prisca is the main contributor of organic matter to the oil and rock and then goes on to discuss the nature of the organism. In general, this book reviews information presented in other places, but still serves as a good resource for those interested in the evolution of the Earth.
- OSTI ID:
- 6161273
- Resource Relation:
- Other Information: From review by Cindy Lee, State Univ. of New York, Stony Brook, in Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, Vol. 57, No. 11 (June 1993)
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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03 NATURAL GAS
58 GEOSCIENCES
EARTH PLANET
BIOLOGICAL EVOLUTION
PLANETARY EVOLUTION
NATURAL GAS DEPOSITS
CHEMICAL COMPOSITION
PETROLEUM DEPOSITS
ALGAE
BIOLOGICAL MARKERS
CYANOBACTERIA
EARTH ATMOSPHERE
EARTH CRUST
EARTH MANTLE
ORDOVICIAN PERIOD
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GEOLOGIC AGES
GEOLOGIC DEPOSITS
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030200 - Natural Gas- Reserves
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580000 - Geosciences