CHAPTER 1

The Evolution of EarthThe Geochemical Partner of the

Global Ecosystem (5 Billion Years of History)

1.1. INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1.2. THE FORMATION OF THE ATOMIC ELEMENTS: ABUNDANCES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1.3. EARTHS PHYSICAL NATURE: TEMPERATURE AND PRESSURE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1.4. EARTHS ATMOSPHERE AND ITS COMPOSITION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1.5. THE INITIAL FORMATION OF MINERALS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1.6. THE REFORMING OF SOLIDS FROM MELTS: MINORITY SOLIDS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1.7. THE SETTLING DOWN OF EARTHS PHYSICAL NATURE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1.8. THE INITIAL FORMATION OF THE SEA AND ITS CONTENTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1.9. DETAILED COMPOSITION OF THE ORIGINAL SEA: AVAILABILITY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1.10. GEOLOGICAL PERIODS CHEMICAL AND FOSSIL RECORDS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1.11. FISSURES IN THE SURFACE AND IMPACTS OF METEORITES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1.12. THE GEOCHEMICAL EFFECTS OF OXYGEN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1.13. CONCLUSION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
FURTHER READING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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1.1. Introduction
This book concerns the Earths evolving ecology, where ecology is defined by the
study of the relationship between organisms and their physical and chemical surroundings. We begin with an account of geological chemistry starting from the Big
Bang, which created the first light chemical elements, especially hydrogen and
helium, from which in order stars, e.g. the Sun, and planets, including the Earth,
were formed. At the same time, this event generated the very uneven distribution of
energy, including that of the Sun, which is the major source of the energy for biological chemistry on Earth. A main intention of the book is then to show that when
our planetary system formed, less than 5 billion years ago, the chemical element
content of the Earth and the forms in which the elements occurred, described in
Chapter 2, imposed gross restrictions on whatever chemistry, biological or other,
could develop on its surface before mankind appeared. These restrictions are mainly
due to the availability of chemicals in the atmosphere and surface waters, which
have access to the Suns energy. The understanding of the possibilities of this chemistry has come with the development of studies of elements and compounds largely
in the last 200 years (Chapter 2). Given the background of geological chemistry and
our more general understanding of what are called inorganic and organic
chemistries we can proceed to consider ways in which chemical systems such as we