paleonet Geobiology

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OK. I'm confused. Earlier this week I learned that a new journal 
entitled (and dealing with) Geobiology was slated to be published by 
Blackwells soon. I've heard this term being bandied about for years, 
but publication of a special-topic journal suggests (to me) a certain 
conceptual crystalization such that geobiology could be--or should 
be--more-or-less distinguishable from other types of paleontology 
(e.g., systematic paleontology, stratigraphic paleontology, 
paleoecology, paleobiology). Otherwise, how do you know what type of 
papers to send to the journal? So, I picked up my mouse and went to 
the web to get a definitive definition, or perhaps even a provisional 
definition, of the term. Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be much 
consensus out there. For some, it seems as though geobiology is 
linked to astrobiology somehow. Others (e.g., Carl Brett who teaches 
a course in geobiology at Cincinnati) think of it as a junior synonym 
for historical geology, with perhaps a bit more chemistry thrown in. 
Still others (e.g., Caltech), think of it as "the use of information 
preserved in and by the biosphere to attack problems of importance 
for understanding the geological evolution of the Earth." Of course, 
this is OK but that sort of definition can apply to just about 
anything including all of paleontology along with much of what 
concerns sedimentologists and oceanographers. There's even a 
'Geobiology of Life' Program out there, described as "the result of 
forty years of combined research in microbiology, forestry, and 
herbal nutrition, along with diverse experience through the studies 
of metaphysics, the Far East and American Indian shamanism. 
Consequently, my question is what (if anything) is geobiology and how 
is it related to the other branches of paleontology? The last major 
conceptual revolution in paleontology--leaving aside punctuated 
equilibria and its descendants--was the paleobiology movement of late 
60's and 70's. This movement, spearheaded by T. J. M. Schopf, Steve 
Gould, David Raup, and others, gave paleontology a renewed interest 
in speciation dynamics, extinction studies, biodiversity studies, 
functional morphology and a generally more quantitative/statistical 
approach to the analysis of all types of paleontological data. Is 
geobiology the same sort of thing? If so, what conceptual issues does 
it take as its own? Last, but not least, does geobiology appeal to 
students more readily than historical geology, sedimentology, 
oceanography, etc? If so, why?

Norm MacLeod

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Dr. Norman MacLeod
Keeper of Palaeontology
The Natural History Museum,
Cromwell Road, London, SW7 5BD

(0)20-7942-5204 (Office)
(0)20-7942-5546 (Fax)
N.MacLeod@nhm.ac.uk (e-mail)

Web Page: http://www.nhm.ac.uk/palaeontology/a&ss/nm/nm.html
NHM Palaeo. Dept. BURP Update: http://www.nhm.ac.uk/palaeontology/burp.html

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