The rapid increase of carbon dioxide concentration in Earth's modern atmosphere is a
matter of major concern. But for the atmosphere of roughly two-and-half billion years ago …

Iron formations (IF) represent an iron-rich rock type that typifies many Archaean and
Proterozoic supracrustal successions and are chemical archives of Precambrian seawater …

Abstract The Archean era (4 to 2.5 billion years ago, Ga) yielded rocks that include the
oldest conclusive traces of life as well as many controversial occurrences. Carbonaceous …

The chemical versatility of sulfur and its abundance in the prebiotic Earth as reduced sulfide
(H2S) implicate this molecule in the origin of life 3.8 billion years ago and also as a major …

Cyanobacteria are among the most diverse prokaryotic phyla, with morphotypes ranging
from unicellular to multicellular filamentous forms, including those able to terminally (ie …

Refinements of the geological timescale driven by the increasing precision and accuracy of
radiometric dating have revealed an apparent correlation between large igneous provinces …

We review the origin and evolution of the atmospheres of Earth, Venus and Mars from the
time when their accreting bodies were released from the protoplanetary disk a few million …

Understanding the role of biology in planetary evolution remains an outstanding challenge
to geobiologists. Progress towards unravelling this puzzle for Earth is hindered by the …

Nitrogen, carbon, hydrogen and sulfur are essential elements for life and comprise about 1%
of terrestrial planet masses. These elements dominate planetary surfaces due to their …

Earth owes its oxygenated atmosphere to its unique claim on life, but how the atmosphere
evolved from an initially oxygen-free state remains unresolved. The rise of atmospheric …