From fossils to astrobiology : records of life on Earth and the search for extraterrestrial biosignatures

1402088361......Page 1
TABLE OF CONTENTS[sup(1)]......Page 6
Foreword......Page 9
Introduction......Page 13
List of Authors and Their Addresses......Page 26
GEOLOGY PART 1 : FOSSILS AND FOSSILIZATION......Page 34
Nanosims Opens a New Window for Deciphering Organic Matter in Terrestrial and Extraterrestrial Samples......Page 35
Disentangling the Microbial Fossil Record in the Barberton Greenstone Belt: A Cautionary Tale......Page 55
Looking Through Windows onto the Earliest History of Life on Earth and Mars......Page 67
Models for Silicate Fossils of Organic Materials in the Astrobiological Context......Page 97
Microfossil Phosphatization and Its Astrobiological Implications......Page 116
Proterozoic Unicellular and Multicellular Fossils from India and Their Implications......Page 144
PART 2: STROMATOLITES, MICROBIAL MATS, AND BIOFILMS......Page 164
Microbial Communities of Stromatolites......Page 165
Biosedimentological Processes That Produce Hot Spring Sinter Biofabrics: Examples from the Uzon Caldera, Kamchatka Russia......Page 181
Cyanobacterial Mat Features Preserved in the Siliciclastic Sedimentary Record: Paleodeserts and Modern Supratidal Flats......Page 201
Deciphering Fossil Evidence for the Origin of Life and the Origin of Animals: Common Challenges in Different Worlds......Page 230
BIOLOGY PART 3: TERRESTRIAL MICROBES AS ANALOGS FOR LIFE ELSEWHERE IN THE UNIVERSE......Page 248
Microorganisms in the Ancient Terrestrial Subsurface – And in Outer Space?......Page 249
Evidence of Ancient Microbial Life in an Impact Structure and Its Implications for Astrobiology: A Case Study......Page 264
Phylogenomic Dating and the Relative Ancestry of Prokaryotic Metabolisms......Page 289
Fossil Microorganisms at Methane Seeps: An Astrobiological Perspective: Astrobiology of Methane Seeps......Page 309
Endoliths in Terrestrial Arid Environments: Implications for Astrobiology......Page 329
Magnetotactic Bacteria and Their Potential for Terraformation......Page 343
PART 4: EVOLUTION AND ASTROBIOLOGY......Page 359
Paleontological Tests: Human-Like Intelligence Is Not a Convergent Feature of Evolution......Page 360
Cosmic Life Forms......Page 375
SPACE SCIENCES PART 5: ASTRONOMICAL AND COSMOLOGICAL CONSIDERATIONS IN ASTROBIOLOGY......Page 391
Astronomical and Astrobiological Imprints on the Fossil Records: A Review......Page 392
Do Impacts Really Cause Most Mass Extinctions?......Page 411
Irradiation of Icy Cometary Analogs: Its Relevance in Reference to Chemical Evolution and the Origin of Life......Page 425
The Big Bang at Time Zero......Page 443
Molecular Imprints of Reaction Network: Living or Non-living......Page 8
Preservation Windows for Paleobiological Traces in the Mars Geological Record......Page 486
The ALH84001 Case for Life on Mars......Page 467
PART 7: OUTLOOK AND SUMMARY......Page 507
Summary, Final Comments and Conclusions......Page 508
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