Edited by
P.G. Eriksson, University of Pretoria, South Africa
Wladyslaw Altermann, Ludwigs-Maximilians-University Munich, Germany
D.R. Nelson, Geological Survey of Western Australia, East Perth, WA, Australia
W.U. Mueller, Sciences de la Terre, Université du Québec, Chicoutimi, Québec, Canada
O. Catuneanu, Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Octavian Catuneanu, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada
Description
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
Included in series
Developments in Precambrian Geology
