An Introduction to the Earth-Life System

This concise textbook combines Earth and biological sciences to explore the co-evolution of the Earth and life over geological time.

Charles Cockell (Author), Richard Corfield (Author), Nancy Dise (Author), Neil Edwards (Author), Nigel Harris (Author)

9780521729536, The Open University

Paperback, published 28 February 2008

326 pages, 220 colour illus.
26.3 x 21.1 x 1.8 cm, 1.074 kg

'… well illustrated … very accessible …' The Geographical Journal

This concise undergraduate textbook brings together Earth and biological sciences to explore the co-evolution of the Earth and life over geological time. Written for a one-semester course, it explores the Earth system at and above the surface of the Earth by examining the interactions and feedback processes between the geosphere, atmosphere, hydrosphere and biosphere. It also explains how the Earth's surface environment involves a complex interplay between these systems. Through a wealth of features and student questioning, the book allows students to understand how physical controls make our planet hospitable for life, investigate the processes of global change that operate on a range of timescales, understand important cross-disciplinary connections and explore how the whole Earth system has evolved. Finally, it assesses how and why the climate of the Earth has varied over geological time, and considers whether life itself is passive or an active agent for change.

1. A habitable planet
2. The emergence and persistence of life
3. The carbon cycle
4. Plate tectonics, climate and life
5. Mountains and climate change
6. Life in the Phanerozoic
7. The Earth at extremes
8. Summary
Answers to questions
Appendices
Further reading
Glossary
Index.

Subject Areas: Earth sciences [RB]