Interactive Evolution of Earth and Life

Interactive Evolution of Earth and Life aims to provide readers with detailed, current knowledge of the oldest geological terrains reported on Earth. It includes discussion of evidence for the oldest traces of life on Earth and paleo-environmental reconstruction. The book reviews the evolution of Earth’s living and chemical systems, from the first evidence of crust formation to the rise of complex multicellular life. Following different key geological formations of Precambrian ages, the authors present a general evolutionary scheme from an abiotic, hot, and anoxic inhospitable Earth system to the evolution of Eukaryotes in an environment suitable for the evolution for complex life. Key scientific results using geochemistry and micro- to nano-scale analyses are presented together with ongoing scientific debate on the biogenicity of the earliest traces of life on earth and the nature of their host environments.