Abstract
Biogeochemical systems are a product of the interacting evolutions of biosphere, atmosphere, hydrosphere, and lithosphere. They began with the appearance of life on Earth. But the appearance of objects we would unhesitatingly pronounce to be living is itself presumably only the end stage of a transitional process whose nature and antecedents are important parts of the story. If we include prebiotic chemistry, the process may have started in the space between the stars. That follows from the discovery by X-ray astronomers of interstellar hydrogen cyanide, formaldehyde, and the other important polyatomic organic molecules listed in Table 1.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsPreview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Armstrong, R.L., 1968. A model for the evolution of strontium and lead isotopes in a dynamic earth: Rev. Geophys?, 6: 175–199.
Barton, J.M., Jr., Fripp, R.E.P. and Ryan, B., 1977. Rb/Sr ages and geological setting of ancient, dykes in the Sand River area, Limpopo Mobile Belt, South Africa. Nature, 267: 487–490.
Becker, R.H. and Clayton, R.N., 1972. Carbon isotopic evidence for the origin of a banded iron formation in western Australia. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta?, 36: 577–595.
Berkner, L.V. and Marshall, L.C., 1965. History of major atmospheric components. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A, 53: 1215–1225.
Bogorad, L., 1966. The biosynthesis of chlorophylls. In: L.P. Vernon and G.R. Seely (Eds.), The Chlorophylls, Academic Press, NY, pp. 481–510.
Bogorad, L., 1976. Chlorophyll biosynthesis. In: T.W. Goodwin (Ed.), Chemistry and Biochemistry of Plant Pigments, V. 1, Academic Press, NY, pp. 64–148.
Bridgwater, D., Escher, A., Jackson, G.D., Taylor, F.C. and Windley, B.F., 1973. Development of the Precambrian Shield in West Greenland, Labrador, and Baffin Island. Am. Assoc. Petr. Geol. Mem 19: 99–116.
Bridgwater, D., McGregor, V.R. and Myers, J.S., 1974. A horizontal tectonic regime in the Archean of Greenland and its implications for early crustal thickening. Precambr. Res?, 1: 179–197.
Brinkman, R.T., 1969. Dissociation of water vapour and evolution of oxygen in the terrestrial atmosphere. J. Geophys. Res?, 74: 5355–5367.
Broecker, W.S., 1970. A boundary condition on evolution of atmospheric oxygen. J. Geophys. Res?, 75: 3553–3557.
Button, A., 1980. Early Proterozoic Weathering Profile on the 2200 m.y. Old Hekpoort Basalt, Pretoria Group, South Africa: Preliminary Results? Univ. Witwatersrand, Econ. Geol. Research Unit, Information Circular, in press.
Calvin, M., 1965. Chemical evolution. Proc. R. Soc., A 288: 441–446.
Cameron, A.G.W., 1973, Accumulation processes in the primitive solar nebula. Icarus, 18: 407–450.
Cameron, A.G.W., 1977. The primitive solar accretion disk (sic) and the formation of the planets: Proc. NATO Adv. Study Inst. on the Origin of the Solar System, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, pp. 49–74.
Cameron, A.G.W. and Truron, J.W., 1977. The supernova trigger for the formation of the solar system: Icarus, 30: 447–461.
Carver, J.H., 1980. Oxygen and ozone evolution in palaeo-atmospheres. This volume pp.
Chase, C.G. and Perry, C., Jr., 1972. The Oceans: growth and oxygen isotope evolution. Science, 177: 992–994.
Cloud, P., 1965. Significance of the Gunflint (Precambrian) microflora. Science, 148: 27–35.
Cloud, P., 1968. Pre-Metazoan evolution and the origins of the Metazoa. In: E.T. Drake (Ed.), Evolution and Environment, Yale Univ. Press, pp. 1–72.
Cloud, P., 1973. Paleoecological significance of the banded iron-formation. Econ. Geol., 68: 1135–1143.
Cloud, P., 1974. Evolution of ecosystems. Am. Sci., 62: 54–66.
Cloud, P., 1976a. Beginnings of biospheric evolution and their biogeochemical consequences. Paleobiol., 2: 351–387.
Cloud, P., 1976b. Major features of crustal evolution. Geol Soc. S. Afr., Annexure to v. 79 (Alex L. DuToit Memorial Lecture No. 14), 33 pp.
Cloud, P., 1978. Cosmos, Earth, and Man. Yale Press, 372 p.
Cloud, P. and Gibor, A., 1970. The oxygen cycle. Sci. Am., Offprint No. 1192, 12 pp.
Demoulin, V., 1979. Early Precambrian oxygen. Nature, 278: 479.
Dimroth, E., 1968. The evolution of the central segment of the Labrador Geosyncline, Part I: Stratigraphy, facies and paleogeography. Neues Jb. Geol. Paläont. Abh., 132: 22–24.
Dimroth, E., 1970. Evolution of the Labrador Geosyncline. Bull. Geol. Soc. Am., 81: 2717–2742.
Fanale, F.P., 1971. A case for catastrophic early degassing of the earth. Chem. Geol., 8: 79–105.
Ferris, J.P., Joshi, P.C., Edelson, E.H. and Lawless, J.C., 1978. HCN: A plausible source of purines, pyrimidines and amino acids on the primitive earth. J. Mol. Evol., II: 293–311.
Fox, S.W. and Yuyama, S., 1973. Abiotic production of primitive protein and formed micro-particles, Ann. New York Acad. Sci., 108: 487–494.
Garrison, W.M., Hamilton, J.G., Morrison, D.C., Benson, A.A. and Calvin, M., 1951. Reduction of carbon dioxide in aqueous solutions by ionizing radiations. Science, 114: 416–418.
Gilbert, G.K., 1886. The inculcation of scientific method by example. Am. J. Sci., Ser. 3, 31: 284–299.
Goldich, S.S., 1973. Ages of Precambrian banded iron-formations. Econ. Geol., 68: 1126–1134.
Holland, H.D., 1978, The Chemistry of the Atmosphere and Oceans. Wiley-Interscience, NY, 351 pp.
Hoyle, F. and Wickramasinghe, Harper and Row, 189 pp.
Hunten, D.M., 1973. The escape of light gases from panetary atmospheres. J. Atmos. Sci., 30: 1481–1494.
Hunten, D.M. and Strobel, D.T., 1973. Production and escape of terrestrial hydrogen. J. Atmos. Sci., 31: 305–317.
Jacobs, J.A., 1961. Some aspects of the thermal history of the earth. Geophys. J., 4: 267–275.
James, H.L. and Sims, P.K. (Eds.), 1973. Pre-Cambrian iron-formations of he world. Econ. Geol., 68: 913–1179.
Lambert, I.B., Donnelly, T.H., Dunlop, J.S.R. and Groves, D.I., 1978. Stable isotope compositions of early Archean sulphate deposits of probable evaporitic and volcanogenic origins: Nature, 276: 808–810.
Lee, T., Papanastassiou, D.A. and Wasserburg, G.J., 1976. Demonstration of 26Mg excess in Allende and evidence for A1: Geophys. Res. Lett., 3: 109–112.
Lee, T., Papanastassiou, D.A. and Wasserburg, G.J., 1978. Calcium isotopic anomalies in the Allende Meteorite. Astrophys. J., 220, L21 - L25.
Macdonald, G.J.F., 1959. Calculations on the thermal his tory of the earth. J. Geophys. Res., 65: 2173–2190.
Macgregor, A.M., 1927. The problem of the Precambrian at mosphere. South Afr. J. Sci., 24: 155–172.
Mastenbrook, H.J., 1971. The variability of water vapor in the stratosphere. J. Atmos. Sci., 28: 1495–1501.
Miller, S.L., 1953. A production of amino acids under primitive earth conditions. Science, 117: 528–529.
Miller, S.L. and Orgel, L.E., 1974. The Origins of Life on Earth. Prentice Hall Inc., NY, 229 pp.
Nagy, L.A., 1974. Transvaal stromatolite: First evidence for the diversification of cells about 2.2 x 109 years ago. Science, 183: 514–516.
Nagy, L.A., 1978. New filamentous and cystous microfossils, 2,300 m.y. old from the Transvaal Sequence. J. Paleontol., 52: 141–154.
Perry, E.C., Monster, J. and Reimer, T., 1971. Sulfur isotopes in Swaziland system barites and the evolution of the earth’s atmosphere. Science, 171: 1015–1016.
Pirie, N.W., 1953. Ideas and assumptions about the origin of life. Discovery, 14: 238–242
Oren,, A., Padan, E. and Avron, M., 1977. Quantum yields for oxygenic photosynthesis in the cyanobacterium Oscillatoria limnetica. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A., 74: 2152–2156.
Ringwood, A.E., 1966. The chemical composition and origin of the earth. In: P.M. Hurley (Ed.), Advances in Earth Science, MIT Press, pp. 287–356.
Ringwood, A.E., 1975. Composition and Petrology of the Earth’s Mantle. McGraw Hill Book Co., NY, 618 pp.
Ringwood, A.E., 1977. Composition of the Core and Implications for Origin of the Earth. Australian National University, Research School of Earth Sciences, Publ. No. 1227, 45 pp.
Rubey, W.W., 1951. Geologic history of sea water. Bull. Geol. Soc. Am., 62: 1111–1148.
Russell, H.N. and Menzel, D.W., 1933. The terrestrial abundance of the permanent gases. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci, U.S.A., 19: 997–1001.
Sagan, C. and Mullen, G., 1972. Earth and Mars: evolution of atmospheres and surface temperatures. Science, 177: 52–56.
Schidlowski, M. and Eichman, R., 1977. Evolution of the terrestrial oxygen budget. In: C. Ponnamperuma (Ed.), Chemical Evolution of the Early Precambrian, Academic Press, NY, pp. 87–89.
Schidlowski, M., Appel, P.W.U., Eichmann, R. and Junge, C.E., 1979. Carbon isotope geochemistry of the 3.7 x 109-yr-old Isua sediments, West Greenland: implications for the Archean carbon and oxygen cycles. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta, 43: 189–199.
Schopf, J.W., 1978. The evolution of the earliest cells. Sci. Am., 239: 111–120, 126–134.
Schramm, D.N. and Clayton, R.N., 1978. Did a supernova trigger the formation of the solar system? Sci. Am., 239: 124–139.
Shimizu, M., 1979. An evolutionary model of the terrestrial atmosphere from a comparative planetological view. Precambr. Res., 9: 311–324.
Siever, R., 1977. Early Precambrian weathering and sedimentation: an impressionistic view. In: C. Ponnamperuma (Ed.), Chemical Evolution of the Early Precambrian, Academic press, NY, pp. 13–24.
Towe, K.M., 1978. Early Precambrian oxygen: a case against photosynthesis. Nature, 274: 657–661.
Towe, K.M., 1979. Early Precambrian oxygen: Towe replies. Nature, 278: 479.
Turekian, K.K. and Clark, S.P., 1969. Inhomogeneous accumulation of the earth from the primitive solar nebula. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett., 6: 346–348.
Urey, H.C., 1959. The atmospheres of the planets. In: S. Fugge (Ed.), Handbuch der Physik. Vol. 52, Springer Verlag, Berlin, pp. 363–418.
von Brunn, V. and Mason, T.R., 1977. 3-Gyr-old stromatolites from South Africa. Nature, 266: 47–49.
Walker, J.C.G., 1976. Implications for atmospheric evolution of the inhomogeneous accretion model of the origin of Earth. In: B.F. Windley (Ed.), The Early History of the Earth. Wiley-Interscience, NY, pp. 537–546.
Walker, J.C.G., 1977. Evolution of the Atmosphere. MacMillan Publishing Co., Inc. 318 pp.
Walker, R.N., Muir, M.D., Diver, W.L., Williams, N. and Wilkins, N., 1977, Evidence of major sulphate evaporite deposits in the Proterozoic McArthur Group, Northern Territory, Australia. Nature, 265: 526–529.
Weisskopf, V.F., 1979, Contemporary frontiers in physics. Science, 230: 240–244.
Wetherill, G.W., 1971. The beginning of continental evolution. In: A. R. Ritsema (Ed.), The Upper Mantle. Tectonophysics, 13: 31–45.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1980 Australian Academy of Science
About this paper
Cite this paper
Cloud, P. (1980). Early Biogeochemical Systems. In: Trudinger, P.A., Walter, M.R., Ralph, B.J. (eds) Biogeochemistry of Ancient and Modern Environments. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-48739-2_2
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-48739-2_2
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-642-48741-5
Online ISBN: 978-3-642-48739-2
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive