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PART I PRINCIPLES
1. Earth as a System
Visual Overview: Exploring the Earth System
The Principle of Uniformitarianism
The Nature and Origin of Rocks
Global Dating of the Rock Record
Imaging Earth Below
Plate Tectonics
The Water Cycle
Directional Change in Earth's History
Episodic Change in Earth's History
2. Rock-Forming Minerals and Rocks
Visual Overview: Rocks and Their Origins
The Structure of Minerals
The Properties of Minerals
Types of Rocks
3. The Diversity of Life
Visual Overview: The Six Kingdoms
Fossils and Chemical Remains of Ancient Life
Taxonomic Groups
Identifying Clades and Their Relationships
Prokaryotes: The Two Kingdoms of Bacteria
The Protista: A Kingdom Consisting Mainly of Single-Celled Organisms
The Fungi: A Kingdom of Decomposers
The Plant Kingdom
The Animal Kingdom
4. Environments and Life
Visual Overview: The Distribution of Environments and Life on Earth
Principles of Ecology
The Atmosphere
The Terrestrial Realm
The Marine Realm
Freshwater Environments
5. Sedimentary Environments
Visual Overview: Depositional Environments and Accumulation of Sediments
Nonmarine Environments
Mariginal Marine and Open-Shelf Environments
Deep-Sea Environments
6. Correlation and Dating of the Rock Record
Visual Overview: Methods of Stratigraphic Correlation
The Geologic Time Scale
Stratigraphic Units
Earth's Absolute Age
Event Stratigraphy
7. Evolution and the Fossil Record
Visual Overview: The Evolution of Life
Adaptations
Charles Darwin's Contribution
Genes, DNA, and Chromosomes
Populations, Species, and Speciation
Rates of Origination
The Molecular Clock and Times of Origination
Evolutionary Convergence
Extinction
Evolutionary Trends
8. The Theory of Plate Tectonics
Visual Overview: Elements of Plate Tectonics
The History of Continental Drift Theory
The Rise of Plate Tectonics
Faulting and Volcanism along Plate Boundaries
Plate Movements
9. Continental Tectonics and Mountain Chains
Visual Overview: Formation and Deformation of Continental Margins
The Rifting of Continents
Bending and Flowing of Rocks
Mountain Building
Suturing of Small Landmasses to Continents
Tectonics of Continental Interiors
10. Major Chemical Cycles
Visual Overview: Key Chemical Cycles in Earth System History
Chemical Reservoirs
Carbon Dioxide, Oxygen, and Biological Processes
Use of Carbon Isotopes to Study Global Chemical Cycles
Phanerozoic Trends in Atmospheric CO2
Feedbacks in the Carbon Cycle
Oxygen Isotopes, Climate, and the Water Cycle
Ocean Chemistry and Skeletal Mineralogy
PART II CHANGING EARTH
11. The Archean Eon of Precambrian Time
Visual Overview: Major Events of the Archean Eon
The Ages of the Planets and the Universe
The Origin of the Solar System
The Origin of Earth and Its Moon
The Origin of Continents
Greenstone Belts
Earth System Shift 11-1: Large Cratons Appear near the End of Archean Time
Evidence of Archean Life
Chemical Evidence on the Origin of Life
Atmospheric Oxygen
12. The Proterozoic Eon of Precambrian Time
Visual Overview: Major Events of the Proterozoic Eon
A Modern Style of Orogeny
Global Events of the Paleoproterozoic and Mesoproterozoic
Earth System Shift 12-1: Oxygen Builds Up in the Atmosphere
The Beginnings of Modern Life
Earth System Shift 12-2: Was There a Snowball Earth?
The Expansion and Contraction of Continents
The Assembly of North America
The Assembly and Breakup of Neoproterozoic Supercontinents
13. The Early Paleozoic World
Visual Overview: Major Events of the Early Paleozoic
The Cambrian Explosion of Life
Earth System Shift 13-1: Skeletons Evolve in Many Animal Groups
Ordovician Life
Episodic Mass Extinctions of Trilobites
Ordovician Paleogeography
Earth System Shift 13-2: Glaciation Results in Mass Extinction
Regional Events of Early Paleozoic Time
14. The Middle Paleozoic World
Visual Overview: Major Events of the Middle Paleozoic
Renewed Diversification of Life
Earth System Shift 14-1: Plants Alter Landscapes and Open the Way for Vertebrates to Conquer the Land
The Paleogeography of the Middle Paleozoic World
Glaciation and a Great Mass Extinction
Earth System Shift 14-2: The Expansion of Plants over the Land Causes Global Climatic Change, Glaciation, and Mass Extinction
Regional Events of Middle Paleozoic Time
15. The Late Paleozoic World
Visual Overview: Major Events of the Late Paleozoic
Late Paleozoic Life
Earth System Shift 15-1: Weakened Greenhouse Warming Results in a Great Ice Age
Paleogeography of the Late Paleozoic World
Earth System Shift 15-2: The Most Destructive of All Mass Extinctions Ends the Paleozoic Era
Regional Events of Late Paleozoic Time
16. The Early Mesozoic Era
Visual Overview: Major Events of the Early Mesozoic
Life in the Oceans: A New Biota
Life on Land
Earth System Shift 16-1: The Rise of the Dinosaurs
The Paleogeography of the Early Mesozoic Era
Mass Extinctions
Tectonic Events in North America
17. The Cretaceous World
Visual Overview: Major Events of the Cretaceous
Cretaceous Life
Paleogeography of the Cretaceous World
The Terminal Cretaceous Extinction
Earth System Shift 17-1: Death from Outer Space
North America in the Cretaceous World
The Chalk Seas of Europe
18. The Paleogene World
Visual Overview: Major Events of the Paleogene
Life of the Paleogene
Paleogene Climates
Earth System Shift 18-1: Global Cooling and Drying Begins
Regional Events of Paleogene Time
19. The Neogene World
Visual Overview: Major Events of the Neogene
Worldwide Events of the Neogene Period
The Modern Ice Age of the Northern Hemisphere
Earth System Shift 19-1: Shockingly Rapid Climatic Shifts Occur during the Ice Age
Regional Events of Neogene Time
Human Evolution
Earth System Shift 19-2: The Human Genus Arises at a Time of Sudden Climatic Change
20. The Holocene
Visual Overview: Major Events of the Holocene
The Retreat of Glaciers
Abrupt Global Events of the Early Holocene
Earth System Shift 20-1: A Brief Return to Glacial Conditions
The First Americans
A Sudden Extinction of Large Mammals
Climatic Fluctuations of the Last 10,000 Years
Sea Level
The Twentieth and Twenty-First Centuries: The Impact of Humans
Summary/Review Questions
Appendix: Stratigraphic Stages
Glossary
Index
