Books about Precambrian from Amazon.com

One of the greatest mysteries in reconstructing the history of life on Earth has been the apparent absence of fossils dating back more than 550 million years. We have long known that fossils of sophisticated marine life-forms existed at the dawn of the Cambrian Period, but until recently scientists had found no traces of Precambrian fossils. The quest to find such traces began in earnest in the mid-1960s and culminated in one dramatic moment in 1993 when William Schopf identified fossilized microorganisms three and a half billion years old. This startling find opened up a vast period of time--some eighty-five percent of Earth's history--to new research and new ideas about life's beginnings. In this book, William Schopf, a pioneer of modern paleobiology, tells for the first time the exciting and fascinating story of the origins and earliest evolution of life and how that story has been unearthed.

Gracefully blending his personal story of discovery with the basics needed to understand the astonishing science he describes, Schopf has produced an introduction to paleobiology for the interested reader as well as a primer for beginning students in the field. He considers such questions as how did primitive bacteria, pond scum, evolve into the complex life-forms found at the beginning of the Cambrian Period? How do scientists identify ancient microbes and what do these tiny creatures tell us about the environment of the early Earth? (And, in a related chapter, Schopf discusses his role in the controversy that swirls around recent claims of fossils in the famed meteorite from Mars.) Like all great teachers, Schopf teaches the non-specialist enough about his subject along the way that we can easily follow his descriptions of the geology, biology, and chemistry behind these discoveries. Anyone interested in the intriguing questions of the origins of life on Earth and how those origins have been discovered will find this story the best place to start..
Price: $21.02 [Notify me when price goes down.]

During an expedition in Sonora, Mexico, paleontologist Mark A. S. McMenamin unearthed fossils of creatures dated at approximately 600 million years old -making them the oldest large body fossils ever discovered. These circular fossils, known as Ediacarans, seemed to defy explanation. Representatives of marine life forms that existed in Precambrian times, as much as fifty million years before life on earth began to diversify rapidly, the specimens bore a superficial resemblance to jellyfish. A typical Ediacaran had a quilted body, three curving arms at the center, and a fringe of fine radial lines. McMenamin´s curiosity was fueled by the puzzle of whether the Ediacarans were animals or some other type of organism. How could such complex forms of life appear so suddenly, without extensive records of prior evolution? Yet, this seems to be exactly what the Ediacarans had done. presents a mesmerizing documentary of a major scientific discovery, detailing McMenamin´s trip to Namibia, where, with a party that included the renowned paleontologist Adolf Seilacher, the author investigates a spectacular cast made from a colony of fossils in the Nama desert. He chronicles the long, often futile search made by earlier scientists for Ediacara, which began more than a century ago in Europe, North America, and Africa, and the various types of Ediacaran fossils that have been uncovered in the years since. McMenamin concludes that Ediacarans were not animals because they never passed through the ball-shaped embryonic stage peculiar to known animal life forms. But, remarkably, Ediacarans seem to have developed a central nervous system and a brain independent from animal evolution. This startling conclusion has profound implications for our understanding of evolutionary biology, for it indicates that the path toward intelligent life was embarked upon more than once on this planet..
Price: $49.92 [Notify me when price goes down.]

The authors explore the late Precambrian and earliest Cambrian fossil record to explain the Cambrian phenomenon and discuss the possibility of a major turnover in marine ecology at the beginning of the Cambrian period or whether a new, improved type of animal appeared at this time. They support their often controversial conclusions with photos and illustrations of fossils, some never before published..
Price: $24.00 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Earth's Oldest Rocks provides a comprehensive overview of all aspects of early Earth, from planetary accretion through to development of protocratons with depleted lithospheric keels by c. 3.2 Ga, in a series of papers written by over 50 of the world's leading experts. The book is divided into two chapters on early Earth history, ten chapters on the geology of specific cratons, and two chapters on early Earth analogues and the tectonic framework of early Earth. Individual contributions address topics that range from planetary accretion, a review of Earth meteorites, significance and composition of Hadean protocrust, composition of Archaean mantle and deep crust, all aspects of the geology of Paleoarchean cratons, composition of Archean oceans and hydrothermal environments, evidence and geological settings of early life, early Earth analogues from Venus and New Zealand, and a tectonic framework for early Earth.

* Contains comprehensive reviews of areas of ancient lithosphere on Earth, of planetary accretion processes, and of meteorites
* Focuses on specific aspects of early Earth, including oldest putative life forms, evidence of the composition of the ancient atmosphere-hydrosphere, and the oldest evidence for subduction-accretion
* Presents an overview of geological processes and model of the tectonic framework on early Earth.
Price: $123.24 [Notify me when price goes down.]

The motivation for this volume came from the idea that the Precambrian is the key, both to the present, and to the understanding of the Earth as a whole. The Precambrian constitutes about 85% of Earth's history, and of that, about 3.75 billion years of Precambrian time, represented by rocks, are accessible to geoscientists. Ancient atmospheric and environmental conditions can be traced back to the time when the Earth was only about 250 million years old. Precambrian rocks supply almost 75% of important mineral resources such as Fe, Mn, Au, Pt and Cr. Many of these elements are associated with sedimentary rocks and some important hydrocarbon, coal and graphite deposits are also hosted by Precambrian rocks.

This volume is aimed at geoscientists interested in Precambrian sedimentary rocks and at students of Earth history. It contains review articles discussing Precambrian conditions and case studies from Precambrian shields and successions of North and South America, Australia, Africa, Europe, Asia and India. The introductory papers, written by experts on Precambrian environments, treat comprehensively the application of actualism to the Precambrian, the evolution and influence of life on the sedimentary rock record, the genesis of Banded Iron Formations, the Precambrian sulphur cycle and the significance of Precambrian chemical carbonate precipitates. The case studies include depositional settings and processes in Archean terranes, in Paleoproterozoic sequences, with some emphasis on the lack of vegetation and weathering, and in late Proterozoic sequences, with some emphasis on glacial deposits. The contributions demonstrate that Precambrian sedimentary deposits are commonly similar to their Phanerozoic counterparts in terms of composition, sedimentary processes, and depositional setting, but may differ significantly as a result of lack of vegetation, climatic and biological constraints, composition and circulation of seawater, and the secular involvement of continental crust.

• Contains review articles discussing Precambrian conditions and case studies from Precambrian shields and successions of North and South America, Australia, Africa, Europe, Asia and India.
  
• The introductory papers, written by experts on Precambrian environments, treat comprehensively the application of actualism to the Precambrian, the evolution and influence of life on the sedimentary rock record, the genesis of Banded Iron Formations, the Precambrian sulphur cycle and the significance of Precambrian chemical carbonate precipitates.
  
• Detailed case studies include depositional settings and processes in Archean terranes, in Paleoproterozoic sequences, with some emphasis on the lack of vegetation and weathering, and in late Proterozoic sequences, with some emphasis on glacial deposits.
  
• Written for geoscientists interested in Precambrian sedimentary rocks and students of Earth history.

If you are a member of the International Association of Sedimentologists (IAS), for purchasing details, please see: http://www.iasnet.org/publications/details.asp?code=SP33.
Price: $139.46 [Notify me when price goes down.]