An Introduction to the Earth-Life System
Cambridge University Press, 2/28/2008
EAN 9780521729536, ISBN10: 052172953X
Paperback, 326 pages, 26.3 x 21.1 x 1.8 cm
Language: English
This concise undergraduate textbook brings together Earth and biological sciences to explore the co-evolution of the Earth and life over geological time. Written for a one-semester course, it explores the Earth system at and above the surface of the Earth by examining the interactions and feedback processes between the geosphere, atmosphere, hydrosphere and biosphere. It also explains how the Earth's surface environment involves a complex interplay between these systems. Through a wealth of features and student questioning, the book allows students to understand how physical controls make our planet hospitable for life, investigate the processes of global change that operate on a range of timescales, understand important cross-disciplinary connections and explore how the whole Earth system has evolved. Finally, it assesses how and why the climate of the Earth has varied over geological time, and considers whether life itself is passive or an active agent for change.
1. A habitable planet
2. The emergence and persistence of life
3. The carbon cycle
4. Plate tectonics, climate and life
5. Mountains and climate change
6. Life in the Phanerozoic
7. The Earth at extremes
8. Summary
Answers to questions
Appendices
Further reading
Glossary
Index.
'This innovative Earth science textbook provides a thoroughly new way to look at the history of Earth and life. The pedagogic aspects are particularly well thought through and current research case studies, engaging questions, and practical examples will be beneficial to both students and instructors.' Mike Benton, University of Bristol