Early Earth systems: a geochemical approach

Abstract

1. The Earth System. Introduction. The Nature of the Early Geological Record. Archaean Lithological Associations. The Oldest Rocks. How Much do we Really Know About the Early Earth?. 2. The Origin and Differentiation of the Earth. The Origin and Early History of the Universe. Star Formation. The Condensation of the Solar System. Earth Differentiation - the First Earth System. 3. The Evolution of the Earth's Mantle. Understanding the Mantle. The Earth's Earliest Mantle. Mantle Models. 4. The Origin of the Continental Crust. Modern Crust Formation - Models and Mechanisms. First Order Constraints on the Origin of the Continental Crust. The Secular Evolution of the Earth's Continental Crust. Crustal Growth During the Archaean. Crust-Mantle Interactions: Reservoirs and Fluxes. 5. The Origin of the Earth's Atmosphere and Oceans. The Volatile Budget of the Modern Earth. The Origin of the Earth's Atmosphere and Oceans. The Nature of the Archaean Atmosphere. The Nature of the Archaean Oceans. 6. The Origin of Life. Setting the Scene for Life. Geochemical Signals of Biological Activity. The Geological Record of Life's Origins. The Microbial Record of Life's Origins. In the Beginning... 7. Postscript. References. Index