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Biogeochemistry of Ancient and Modern Environments pp 7–27Cite as

Early Biogeochemical Systems

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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.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. U.S. Geological Survey and University of California, Mount Holyoke College, South Hadley, MA, 01075, USA

    Preston Cloud

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  1. Preston Cloud
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Baas Becking Geobiological Research Laboratory, Canberra, Australia

    P. A. Trudinger  & M. R. Walter  & 

  2. University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia

    B. J. Ralph

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© 1980 Australian Academy of Science

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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

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-48739-2_2

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