Co-evolving life and environments through deep time
Co-ordinators:
Axel Hofmann (University of Johannesburg)
Aubrey Zerkle (University of St Andrews)
Tais W. Dahl (University of Copenhagen, Natural History Museum)
Benjamin Johnson (University of Colorado at Boulder)
The Earth surface has seen tremendous changes through time, as recorded in its volcano-sedimentary record. Cooling of the Earth interior, secular changes in tectonic processes and the composition of the lithosphere, the evolution of the atmosphere and hydrosphere, and the appearance and radiation of life all left their imprint to be deciphered with an ever-growing set of geochemical tools. This theme invites session contributions that address the co-evolution of life with Earth’s surface environments over geologic time. It aims to focus on environmental and geological drivers of biospheric evolution, the imprint of life on the Earth system, and associated biogeochemical feedbacks. Prospective topics include, but are not limited to, the origin of life and Hadean habitability, the geochemical histories of the Precambrian atmosphere and oceans, changes in surface processes and their sedimentary products, causes and consequences of rapid biogeochemical change vs stasis in Earth history, microfossil or molecular records of early eukaryotic evolution, the Ediacaran-early Paleozoic transition, and the environmental drivers of mass extinctions and radiations in the Phanerozoic. We seek contributions approaching these questions using a wide range of cross-disciplinary methods and novel analytical techniques, spanning geological, geochemical, biomolecular and modelling approaches.