Erlangen Earth Conference Series – serie

A little more than forty years has past since the concept of bioerosion was formally recognised as the biological erosion of hard materials. In that time, it has become apparent from the literature that bioerosional processes affect a wide range of biological and geological systems that cross many disciplines among the sciences. This book is dedicated to crossing those traditional disciplinary boundaries to present a united and current perspective on the pattern and process of bioerosion.The book opens with papers on the evolutionary significance of bioerosion, and subsequently ventures out to explore the remarkable diversity of bioerosive biota. From microboring bacteria to grazing echinoids, the studies use a variety of techniques ranging from field observations to sophisticated micro-computed tomography to investigate the ecological and environmental role of these organisms, including symbiotic interactions and alteration of non-carbonate substrates. The book concludes with a primer on the bioerosion bibliography website.A diverse set of two dozen articles, including case studies and extensive reviews, highlight many aspects of the growing discipline of bioerosion research, from the early Palaeozoic to the present, from the Tropics to the Arctic, and from terrestrial environments to the deep-sea.

Over two billion people live in tropical lands. Most of them live in intimate contact with the immediate geological environment, obtaining their food and water directly from it. The unique geochemistry of these tropical environments have a marked influence on their health, giving rise to diseases that affect millions of people. The origin of these diseases is geologic as exemplified by dental and skeletal fluorosis, iodine deficiency disorders, trace element imbalances to name a few. This book, one of the first of its kind, serves as an excellent introduction to the emerging discipline of Medical Geology.

A little more than forty years has past since the concept of bioerosion was formally recognised as the biological erosion of hard materials. In that time, it has become apparent from the literature that bioerosional processes affect a wide range of biological and geological systems that cross many disciplines among the sciences. This book is dedicated to crossing those traditional disciplinary boundaries to present a united and current perspective on the pattern and process of bioerosion.The book opens with papers on the evolutionary significance of bioerosion, and subsequently ventures out to explore the remarkable diversity of bioerosive biota. From microboring bacteria to grazing echinoids, the studies use a variety of techniques ranging from field observations to sophisticated micro-computed tomography to investigate the ecological and environmental role of these organisms, including symbiotic interactions and alteration of non-carbonate substrates. The book concludes with a primer on the bioerosion bibliography website.A diverse set of two dozen articles, including case studies and extensive reviews, highlight many aspects of the growing discipline of bioerosion research, from the early Palaeozoic to the present, from the Tropics to the Arctic, and from terrestrial environments to the deep-sea.