Life on a Young Planet (46 page)

Hoffman, P. F., and D. P. Schrag. 2002. The snowball Earth hypothesis: testing the limits of global change.
Terra Nova
14: 129–155.

Hyde, W. T., T. J. Crowley, S. K. Baum, and W. R. Peltier. 2000. Neoproterozoic ‘Snowball Earth’ simulations with a coupled climate/ice sheet model.
Nature
405: 425–429.

Kennedy, M. J., N. Christie-Blick, and A. R. Prave. 2001. Carbon isotopic composition of Neoproterozoic glacial carbonates as a rest of paleoceanographic models for Snowball Earth phenomena.
Geology
29: 1135–1138.

Kirschvink, J. 1992. Late Proterozoic low latitude glaciation: The Snowball Earth, pp. 51–52 in J. W. Schopf and C. Klein, editors,
The Proterozoic Biosphere: A Multidisciplinary Study
. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

Schrag, D. P., R. A. Berner, P. F. Hoffman, and G. P. Halverson. 2002. On the initiation of a snowball Earth.
Geochemistry Geophysics Geosystems
3: art. no. 1036. (Electronic journal file, accessible by Internet.)

Vidal, G., and A. H. Knoll. 1982. Radiations and extinction of plankton in the late Proterozoic and Early Cambrian.
Nature
297: 57–60.

References on Animals and Late Proterozoic Oxygen Increase

Canfield, D. E., and A. Teske. 1996. Late Proterozoic rise in atmospheric oxygen concentration inferred from phlyogenetic and sulphur-isotope studies.
Nature
382: 127–132.

Derry, L. A., A. J. Kaufman, and S. B. Jacobsen. 1992. Sedimentary cycling and environmental change in the late Proterozoic: Evidence from stable and radiogenic isotopes.
Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta
56: 1317–1329.

Graham, J. B. 1988. Ecological and evolutionary aspects of integumentary respiration: Body size, diffusion, and the Invertebrata.
American Zoologist
28: 1031–1045.

Knoll, A. H., J. M. Hayes, J. Kaufman, K. Swett, and I. Lambert. 1986. Secular variation in carbon isotope ratios from upper Proterozoic successions of Svalbard and East Greenland.
Nature
321: 832–838.

Nursall, J. R. 1959. Oxygen as a prerequisite to the origin of the metazoa.
Nature
183: 1170–1172.

Rhoads, D. C., and J. W. Morse. 1971. Evolutionary and ecological significance of oxygen-deficient marine basins.
Lethaia
4: 413–428.

Runnegar, B. 1982. Oxygen requirements, biology and phylogenetic significance of the late Precambrian worm
Dickinsonia
, and the evolution of the burrowing habit.
Alcheringa
6: 223–239.

Towe, K. M. 1970. Oxygen-collagen priority and the early metazoan fossil record.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA
65: 781–788.

References on Proterozoic-Cambrian Boundary Perturbation and Its Biological Consequences

Amthor, J. E., J. P. Grotzinger, et al. 2003. Extinction of
Cloudina
and
Namacalathus
at the Precambrian-Cambrian boundary in Oman.
Geology
31: 431–434.

Bartley, J. K., M. Pope, A. H. Knoll, M. A. Semikhatov, and P. Yu. Petrov. 1998. A Vendian-Cambrian boundary succession from the northwestern margin of the Siberian Platform: Stratigraphy, paleontology, chemostratigraphy, and correlation.
Geological Magazine
135: 473–494.

Kimura, H., and Y. Watanabe. 2001. Oceanic anoxia at the Precambrian-Cambrian boundary.
Geology
29: 995–998.

Knoll, A. H., and S. B. Carroll. 1999. See references to
chapter 11
.

Chapter 13. Paleontology ad Astra

Key References on the Mars Meteorite Debate

Barber, D. J., and E.R.D. Scott. 2002. Origin of supposedly biogenic magnetite in martian meteorite Allan Hills 84001.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA
99: 6556–6561.

Bradley, J. P., R. P. Harvey, and H. Y. McSween, Jr. 1996. Magnetite whiskers and platelets in the ALH-84001 Martian meteorite: Evidence of vapor phase growth.
Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta
60: 5149–5155.

Clemett, S. J., X.D.F. Chillier, S. Gillette, R. N. Zare, M. Maurette, C. Engrand, and G. Kurat. 1998. Observation of indigenous polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in “giant” carbonaceous antarctic micrometeorites.
Origins of Life and Evolution of the Biosphere
28: 425–448.

Gibson, E. K., Jr., D. S. McKay, K. Thomas-Keprta, and C. S. Romanek. 1997. The case for relic life on Mars.
Scientific American
277 (12): 58–65.

Golden, D. C., D. W. Ming, H. V. Lauer, Jr., C. S. Schwandt, R. V. Morris, G. E. Lofgren, and G. A. McKay. 2002. Inorganic formation of “truncated hexa-octahedral” magnetite: Implications for inorganic processes in Martian meteorite ALH-84001.
Abstracts, Lunar and Planetary Science Conference.

Golden, D. C., D. W. Ming, C. S. Schwandt, H. V. Lauer, Jr., R. A. Socki, R. V. Morris, G. E. Lofgren, and G. A. McKay. 2001. A simple inorganic process for formation of carbonates, magnetite, and sulfides in Martian meteorite ALH-84001.
American Mineralogist
86: 370–375.

Kerr, R. A. 2002. See references for
chapter 4
.

McKay, D. S., E. K. Gibson, Jr., K. L. Thomas-Keprta, H. Vali, C. S. Romaneck, S. J. Clemett, X.D.F. Chillier, C. R. Maechling, and R. N. Zare. 1996. Search for past life on Mars: Possible relic biogenic activity in martian meteorite ALH-84001.
Science
273: 924–930.

Mittlefeldt, D. W. 1994. ALH-84001, a cumulate orthopyroxenite member of the martian meteorite clan.
Meteoritics
29: 214–221.

Thomas-Keprta, K. L., and 9 others. 2001. Truncated hexa-octahedral magnetite crystals in ALH-84001: Presumptive biosignatures.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA
98: 2164–2169.

Treiman, A. Recent scientific papers on ALH-84001 explained, with insightful and totally objective commentaries.
http://cass.jsc.nasa.gov/lpi/meteorites/alhnpap.html
(An excellent website that provides an objective guide to papers on the Allan Hills meteorite. Sadly, there are no updates after December 12, 2000.)

Selected References on Astrobiology and Astropaleontology

Carr, M. 1996.
Water on Mars
. Oxford University Press, Oxford. (A technical but authoritative account of the key requirement for martian life.)

Davies, P. 1995.
Are We Alone?
Penguin Books, London. (Commentary on the big question by an astute and articulate astrophysicist.)

Des Marais, D., editor. 1997.
The Pale Blue Dot Workshop: Spectroscopic Search for Life on Extrasolar Planets
. NASA Conference Publication 10154, 39 pp. (Results of a workshop on how to detect life in nearby solar systems, providing astrobiological justification for the Terrestrial Planet Finder.)

Farmer, J. D., and D. J. Des Marais. 1999. Exploring for a record of ancient martian life.
Journal of Geophysical Research
104: 26,977–26,995. (Articulates a strategy for Mars astropaleontology.)

Goldsmith, D., and T. Owen. 2001.
The Search for Life in the Universe
, third edition. University Science Books, Sausalito, Calif. (A readable guide to the universe and the life it may hold.)

Gopnik, A. 2002. The porcupine: A pilgrimage to Popper.
The New Yorker
, April 1, 2002: 88—93. (A keenly observed essay on Karl Popper and the nature of scientific argument.)

Hesse, H. 1943.
The Glass Bead Game
. Reissue edition by Henry Holt, New York, 1990. (Source of the quote in
chapter 13
.)

Lissauer, J. J. 1999. How common are habitable planets?
Nature
402: C11–C14. (Thoughtful essay on a difficult question.)

Lunine, J. I. 1999. In search of planets and life around other stars.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA
96: 5353–5355. (A readable introduction to extrasolar planet detection, with thoughts on its implications for astrobiology.)

Malin, M. C., and K. S. Edgett. 2000. Evidence for recent groundwater seepage and surface runoff on Mars.
Science
288: 2330–2335. (New observations suggesting that water was present relatively recently on the martian surface.)

McSween, H. Y., Jr. 1997.
Fanfare for Earth: The Origin of Our Planet and Life
. St. Martin’s Press, New York. (An engaging portrait of our planetary history and its implications for life in the universe.)

Shostak, S., B. Jakosky, and J. O. Bennett. 2002.
Life in the Universe
. Addison-Wesley, Boston. (An excellent primer on all things astrobiological.)

Tarter, J. C., and C. F. Chyba. 1999. Is there life elsewhere in the universe?
Scientific American
281 (12): 118–123. (SETI and the search for extraterrestrial life.)

Walter, M. R. 1999.
The Search for Life on Mars
. Perseus Books, Reading Mass. (A personal tour of the astrobiological landscape by one of Precambrian paleontology’s ranking experts.)

Ward, P. D., and D. Brownlee. 2000.
Rare Earth: Why Complex Life Is Uncommon in the Universe
. Copernicus Books, New York. (A paleontologist and a space scientist team up to argue exactly what their title says.)

Epilogue

Barnes, J. 1984.
Flaubert’s Parrot.
Jonathan Cape, London. (Source of my opening quote; reprinted with permission.)

Bradie, M. 1994. The Secret Chain: Evolution and Ethics. State University of New York Press, Albany, N.Y. (Philosophy at the interface between evolution and human ethics.)

de Duve, C. 1995.
Vital Dust: Life as a Cosmic Imperative
. Basic Books, New York. (A stimulating guide to the history of life by a great cell biologist at ease with science and Catholicism.)

Gould, S. J. 1999.
Rocks of Ages: Science and Religion in the Fullness of Life
. Ballantine Books, New York. (Gould weighs in on science and religion as “non-overlapping magisteria”—endeavors with separate goals and practices.)

Myers, N., and A. H. Knoll, editors. 2001. The biotic crisis and the future of evolution.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA
98: 5389–5480. (Papers from a colloquium on our evolutionary future.)

O’Hara, R. J. 1992. Telling the tree.
Biology and Philosophy
7: 135–160. (A thoughtful essay on evolutionary narrative in the age of phylogeny.)

Ruse, M. 2001.
Can a Darwinian be a Christian
? Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. (A lively philosophical guide to the interface between scientific and Christian thought. Thoroughly recommended.)

Sproul, B. C. 1979.
Primal Myths: Creation Myths around the World
. HarperCollins, New York. (A guide to the richness of traditional thought on creation.)

Tucker, M. E., and J. A. Grim, editors. 2001. Religion and ecology: Can the climate change?
Daedalus
130 (4): 1–306. (Fifteen essays on ethics and religion in an age of global change.)