Early Organic Evolution: Implications for Mineral and Energy Resources

Front Matter....Pages I-XVIII
Early Organic Evolution and Mineral and Energy Resources: A Farewell Address to IGCP Project 157....Pages 1-6
Front Matter....Pages 7-7
Introduction to Precambrian Weathering and Paleosols....Pages 9-15
How to Find a Precambrian Paleosol....Pages 16-30
Experimental Procedures to Simulate Weathering Under Atmospheres Which May Have Characterized the Early Archean....Pages 31-40
The Lower Proterozoic Hokkalampi Paleosol in North Karelia, Eastern Finland....Pages 41-66
Paleosol and Ore-Forming Processes in the Elliot Lake District of Canada....Pages 67-75
Mineralogy and Geochemistry of the Pre-1.65 Ga paleosol under Kombolgie Formation sandstone of the Pine Creek Geosyncline, Northern Territory, Australia....Pages 76-105
Carbonaceous High-Alumina Shale in the Transvaal Supergroup: Evidence of Early Proterozoic Karstic Wheathering in a Marine Environment....Pages 106-114
Significance of Precambrian Paleosols....Pages 115-129
Front Matter....Pages 131-131
Mantle Carbon: Concentration, Mode of Occurrence, and Isotopic Composition....Pages 133-146
Carbon Cycle and Carbon Isotope Record: Geochemical Impact of Life over 3.8 Ga of Earth History....Pages 147-175
Precambrian Petroleum: A Decade of Changing Perceptions....Pages 176-192
Paleontology and Biogeochemical Research: A Powerful Synergy....Pages 193-202
Proterozoic Organic Carbon — Its Preservation and Isotopic Record....Pages 203-211
An Assessment of the Precambrian/Cambrian Transition Events on the Basis of Carbon Isotope Records....Pages 212-223
Stratiform and Globular Organic Matter in the Lower Proterozoic Metasediments at Elliot Lake, Ontario, Canada....Pages 224-231
Organic Carbon Isotopic Composition of Proterozoic Sedimentary Rocks from India: Preliminary Results....Pages 232-240
Organic Free Radicals in Precambrian and Paleozoic Rocks: Origin and Significance....Pages 241-256
On the Atypical Petroleum-Generating Characteristics of Alginite in the Cambrian Alum Shale....Pages 257-266
Distribution and Structure of Hydrocarbons and Heterocyclic Sulfur Compounds Released from Four Kerogens of Ordovician Age by Means of Flash Pyrolysis....Pages 267-278
Front Matter....Pages 131-131
Thermal Maturity of Early Paleozoic Sediments as Determined By the Optical Properties of Marine-Derived Organic Matter — A Review....Pages 279-295
Hydrocarbon Composition of the Late Proterozoic Oils of the Siberian Platform: Implications for the Depositional Environment of Source Rocks....Pages 296-307
Biomarkers and Other Hydrocarbons in Upper Sinian Stromatolitic Dolostones from Southwest China....Pages 308-316
Natural Gas in Sinian Reservoirs of the Weiyuan Area, Sichuan Province: The Oldest Gas Field in China....Pages 317-323
Biological Markers in Paleozoic Sedimentary Rocks and Crude Oils from the Michigan Basin: Reassessment of Sources and Thermal History of Organic Matter....Pages 324-335
The Influence of Gloeocapsomorpha prisca on the Organic Geochemistry of Oils and Organic-Rich Rocks of Late Ordovician Age from Canada....Pages 336-356
Front Matter....Pages 357-357
Sulfur in the Earth’s Mantle — A Review....Pages 359-366
Bacterial Sulfate Reduction: Current Status and Possible Origin....Pages 367-377
Biogeochemistry of Sulfur and the Mechanisms of Sulfide-Sulfate Mineralization in Archean Oceans....Pages 378-397
Biological and Abiological Sulfate Reduction in Two Northern Australian Proterozoic Basins....Pages 398-407
Global Oxidation and a Supercontinent in the Proterozoic: Evidence from Stable Isotopic Trends....Pages 408-414
Depositional and Diagenetic C-S-Fe Signatures and the Potential of Shales to Generate Metal-Rich Fluids....Pages 415-425
Genetic Relationship Between Elementary, Organic, and Pyritic Sulfur in Sediments....Pages 426-432
Front Matter....Pages 433-433
The History and Significance of Stromatolites....Pages 435-449
Proterozoic and Living Cyanobacteria....Pages 450-462
Lower Precambrian Stromatolite Associations of Karelia....Pages 463-467
Tussocky Microstructure, a Biological Event in Upper Proterozoic Stromatolites; Comparisons with Modern Freshwater Stromatolite Builders....Pages 468-477
On the Association of Ore Deposits with Stromatolites....Pages 478-482
Experimental Hypersaline Ponds as Model Environments for Stromatolite Formation 1. Microbenthos Composition and Biomass Accumulation....Pages 483-493
Experimental Hypersaline Ponds as Model Environments for Stromatolite Formation 2. Isotopic Biogeochemistry....Pages 494-508
Front Matter....Pages 433-433
Palynostratigraphy in Phanerozoic and Precambrian Metamorphic Rocks....Pages 509-518
Front Matter....Pages 519-519
Mineral Deposits and Metallogeny: Indicators of Earth’s Evolution....Pages 521-545
Chemical Evolution of Sedimentary and Magmatic Rocks in the Earth’s Crust....Pages 546-549
Back Matter....Pages 551-555