The Precambrian Earth

Tempos and Events
Erscheinungsjahr 2004
ISBN: 978-0-444-51506-3
Verlag: Elsevier Science

Buch, Englisch, 966 Seiten, Format (B × H): 171 mm x 246 mm, Gewicht: 1846 g

In this book the editors strive to cover all primary (i.e. non-applied) topics in Precambrian geology in a non-partisan way, by using a large team of international authors to present their datasets and highly divergent viewpoints.

The chapters address: celestial origins of Earth and succeeding extraterrestrial impact events; generation of continental crust and the greenstone-granite debate; the interaction of mantle plumes and plate tectonics over Precambrian time; Precambrian volcanism, emphasising komatiite research; evolution and models for Earth's hydrosphere and atmosphere; evolution of life and its influence on Precambrian ocean chemistry and chemical sedimentation; sedimentation through Precambrian time; the application of sequence stratigraphy to the Precambrian rock record. Each topic is introduced and a non-partisan closing commentary provided at the end of each chapter. The final chapter blends the major geological events and rates at which important processes occurred into a synthesis, which postulates a number of "event clusters" in the Precambrian when significant changes occurred in many natural systems and geological environments.

Also available in paperback, ISBN: 0-444-51509-7

Autoren/Hrsg.

Eriksson, P G

Altermann, Wladyslaw

Nelson, D R

Mueller, W U

Catuneanu, O.

Catuneanu, Octavian

Fachgebiete

• Geowissenschaften Geologie GIS, Geoinformatik
• Geowissenschaften Geologie Geologie

Inhaltsverzeichnis

1. The Early Earth.
2. Generation of Continental Crust.
3. Tectonism and Mantle Plumes through Time.
4. Precambrian Volcanism: an independent Variable through Time.
5. Evolution of the Hydrosphere and Atmosphere.
6. Evolution of Life and Precambrian Bio-Geology.
7. Sedimentation through Time.
8. Sequence Stratigraphy and the Precambrian.
9. Synthesis.

Über Autor(innen)

Altermann, Wladyslaw
Professor Wladyslaw Altermann is a regional geologist with expertise in Precambrian sedimentary systems, carbonate rocks, early life evolution, and more recently, CO? sequestration in South Africa. Originally from Poland, he earned his MSc and PhD (Dr. rer. nat.) at the Free University of Berlin (West), focusing on Permo-Carboniferous rocks of Thailand and Malaysia. He also worked for the German Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources (BGR) in Hannover and in Peru.

In 1988, Prof. Altermann moved to South Africa, which became his third home. After a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Stellenbosch, he returned to Germany to join LMU Munich, where he completed his second doctorate (Dr. habil.) in 1998, studying Archean carbonates, stromatolites, BIFs, and the western Kaapvaal Craton's structural geology.

Prof. Altermann held postdoctoral positions at UCLA (USA), CBM-CNRS Orléans (France), and the University of Western Australia (Perth). He later became Associate Professor at LMU Munich, where he served as interim chair for several professorial positions and served as Honorary Professor at Shandong University of Technology (China) from 2003 to 2005. In 2009, he returned permanently to South Africa, joining the University of Pretoria as the Kumba-Exxaro Chair in Geodynamics of Mineral Deposits (mining industry supported Chair) and later becoming Head of the Department of Geology.

Throughout his career, Prof. Altermann has been deeply involved in the scientific community, serving on national committees and editorial boards for international journals and as editor of books and special volumes. He was a Vice-President of the Geological Society of Africa and Chairman of the South African Committee for Stratigraphy. He retired from UP in 2019 and has since been working as a freelance geological consultant in Pretoria.