Encyclopedia of Geobiology (Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series) - Tapa dura

From the reviews:

“This new encyclopedia features 228 articles written by 165 experts worldwide. ... deal with a wide range of topics, including micro- and macro- organisms, the relationship between life-forms and geologic environments, features and deposits, and biogeochemical processes. ... The Encyclopedia of Geobiology is the only comprehensive volume on the topic presently available. ... some would be understandable to undergraduates, but most would be more useful to graduate students and professionals. Summing Up: Recommended. Research collections serving graduate students through professionals in the earth sciences.” (L. R. Zellmer, Choice, Vol. 49 (1), September, 2011)

“There are about 200 full entries ... in this encyclopaedia. ... The book is well laid out. There are a reasonable number of diagrams and maps and many pictures. ... I enjoyed rummaging through this book and learned a lot. Any one involved in geobiology (or either component partner) will get good value from this volume.” (John Goodier, Reference Reviews, Vol. 26 (1), 2012)

The interplay between Geology and Biology has shaped the Earth from the early Precambrian, 4 billion years ago. Moving beyond the borders of the classical core disciplines, Geobiology strives to identify chains of cause-and-effect and synergisms between the geo- and the biospheres that have been driving the evolution of life in modern and ancient environments. Combining modern methods, geobiological information can be extracted not only from visible remains of organisms, but also from organic molecules, rock fabrics, minerals, isotopes and other tracers. An understanding of these processes and their signatures reveals enormous applied potentials with respect to issues of environment protection, public health, energy and resource management. The Encyclopedia of Geobiology has been designed to act as a key reference for students, researchers, teachers, and the informed public and to provide basic, but comprehensible knowledge on this rapidly expanding discipline that sits at the interface between modern geo- and biosciences.