Re: paleonet Re: Geobiology

[John Van Couvering <vanc@xxxxxxxx>]

The definition of geobiology  --  "life as a planetary phenomenon" -- is in 
competition with astrobiology.  Guess which one gets the most students.

John Van Couvering

Bill Chaisson wrote: I have considered it the largely province of 
geochemists and micropaleontologists who are interested in bacteria.  It is 
my understanding that geobiology is about how biology might have mediated 
the creation of and continued operation of 'earth systems'. The field seems 
to focus (if you can call it that) on the big picture:  why does the Earth 
as a whole work in the way it does?  How did it happen in the first place 
and what keeps it going?