The Precambrian Earth: Tempos and Events

In this book the editors strive to cover all primary (i.e. non-applied) topics in Precambrian geology in a non-partisan way, by using a large team of international authors to present their datasets and highly divergent viewpoints.

The chapters address: celestial origins of Earth and succeeding extraterrestrial impact events; generation of continental crust and the greenstone-granite debate; the interaction of mantle plumes and plate tectonics over Precambrian time; Precambrian volcanism, emphasising komatiite research; evolution and models for Earth's hydrosphere and atmosphere; evolution of life and its influence on Precambrian ocean chemistry and chemical sedimentation; sedimentation through Precambrian time; the application of sequence stratigraphy to the Precambrian rock record. Each topic is introduced and a non-partisan closing commentary provided at the end of each chapter. The final chapter blends the major geological events and rates at which important processes occurred into a synthesis, which postulates a number of "event clusters" in the Precambrian when significant changes occurred in many natural systems and geological environments.

Also available in paperback, ISBN: 0-444-51509-7

1. The Early Earth.
2. Generation of Continental Crust.
3. Tectonism and Mantle Plumes through Time.
4. Precambrian Volcanism: an independent Variable through Time.
5. Evolution of the Hydrosphere and Atmosphere.
6. Evolution of Life and Precambrian Bio-Geology.
7. Sedimentation through Time.
8. Sequence Stratigraphy and the Precambrian.
9. Synthesis.