Abstract
The “Gaia hypothesis” which asserts that certain properties of the atmosphere are actively maintained by the biota for the biota was developed by J.E. Lovelock to explain the dynamically stable anomalous atmospheric composition, modulated alkalinities and temperatures at the Earth’s surface throughout its 3.5 billion-year-old history. Much, if not all, surface sedimentary deposition since the early Archean Aeon has been modulated by organisms. Detailed in situ characterization of microbial sedimentary communities such as that currently underway at Laguna Figueroa, Baja California, Mexico are essential for verification of the Gaia hypothesis for the atmosphere and surface sediments. A total inventory of biotic atmospheric gas emission and removal processess as well as of biomineralization potential under realistically varying environmental conditions is a sine qua non for the development of the Gaia concept. The current confused state of microbial and “botanical” systematics has precluded even the initiation of an effort that correlates biomineralization and gas exchange potential with taxon. Furthermore, geologists and paleontologists inadvertently create misunderstandings by the use of obsolete taxonomic schemes. This paper, which lists taxa along with their major biogeochemical potentials, is only a tiny first step in the clarification of the current confusion.
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Margulis, L., Stolz, J. (1983). Microbial Systematics and a Gaian View of the Sediments. In: Westbroek, P., de Jong, E.W. (eds) Biomineralization and Biological Metal Accumulation. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-7944-4_3
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