Early organic evolution

This volume presents both an overview and final synopsis of the work performed between 1978 - 1989 by an international task force of geologists, geochemists, and paleontologists rallied around the charter of IGCP-Project 157 (Early Organic Evolution and Mineral and Energy Resources). Apart from several review papers summarizing the state of the art in selected facets of the subject, the bulk of the contributions reflects current research activities in the field (including modern analogs of ancient processes) ranging from early evolution of life on this planet to questions of Precambrian weathering, metallogeny and petroleum formation. Dealing with processes at the interface between evolutionary biology, organic geochemistry and economic geology, the book gives an updated summary of the current state of one of the most challenging frontiers in Earth Sciences.