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I N D E X
Acasta gneiss, 98, 197, 110
basalt, 62–63, 70–73, 99, 103, 121
acid rain, 120–21, 156
Baumol’s “disease, ” 12
Africa, 53, 55, 88
Beagle, Voyage of, 26, 84
Agassiz, Louis, 135
Becquerel, Henri, 33
Agassiz, Glacial Lake, 135
Bengal Fan (Indian Ocean), 77, 89
age of the Earth, 23, 28–30, 40–47
Big Bang theory, 43
albedo effect, 112, 142
biogeochemical cycles, 81–83, 97, 128,
Alley, Richard, 134
148, 187; disruptions of, in mass
Alps, 39, 73, 74, 83, 135, 172
extinctions, 123–5; human perturba-
Aleutian Islands, 72
tions of, 129, 153, 155; in Proterozoic
Alvarez, Luis and Walter, 54–56, 119
time, 105–9. See also carbon cycle.
amphibians, 118, 121
biostratigraphy, 36
Andes, 72, 131
Blackmore, Susan, 175
animals, origin of 115–6
black smokers, 71
Angkor Kingdom, 132
“Boring Billion” (interval in Proterozoic
Anning, Mary, 27
time), 108–11, 128
anoxia, oceanic, 123–4, 129, 153
brachiopods, 114
Antarctica, 2,55, 138, 168
Brahmaputra River, 77, 89
Anthropocene, 91, 128–131, 133, 167,
Brazil, 69
177
bristlecone pine, 167
Apennines, Italian, 55
British Columbia, 87, 153
apocalypticism, 11–12, 119
Buddhism, 162
Appalachian Mountains, 3, 38, 89–90
Bunin, Rabbi Simcha, 177
Archean Eon, 98–103
archeology, 51, 53
14C dating, 50–52, 59
Arctic, 2–5, 81, 93–95, 141–2, 180
Cage, John, 168–9
Argon-argon dating, 54–57
calcite, 82–83, 114, 123, 146, 153–4
Argonne National Laboratory, 45
Caledonides, 3, 10,
73
Arhennius, Svante, 138
California, 154
ash, volcanic, 37–38, 53
California Institute of Technology, 45
Asia, 73, 74, 132, 156
Cambrian explosion, 114–5, 123
asthenosphere, 83
Cambrian Period, 28, 29, 40, 58, 114–5
astrobiology, 14
Cambridge University, 33
Atlantic Ocean, 62, 68, 69, 143, 147
Canadian Shield, 53, 57–58, 98, 110
Atwood, Margaret, 168
Cape Verde Islands, 88
Australia, 58–59, 101–2, 114, 167
carbon capture and storage, 148–153
carbon cycle, on geologic timescales,
Bangladesh, 77
81–83, 106, 141–2; 172; human
baobab trees, 167
perturbations of, 143–54; and mass
Baraboo Hills, Wisconsin, 78
extinctions, 123–4
204 I n dex
carbon dating. See 14C dating
Dangaard-Oeschger cycles, 140
carbon dioxide in atmosphere, 81–83,
Darwin, Charles, 25–56, 28–32, 35, 40,
96, 121–4, 129, 138, 141–55
61, 63, 84, 116–7, 137, 175–6
carbon market or tax, 149, 150
Dawkins, Richard, 175
carbon, stable isotopes of, 100, 139,
day, length of in geologic past, 99
146
dead zones in ocean, 123–4, 129, 153
Carboniferous Period, 40
decay constant, 33–35
Caribbean Sea, 56
Deccan Traps, 121
Carnegie, Andrew, 103
decompression melting, 64
Cascade Range, 72
Descartes, René, 8
Cascadia subduction zone, 87
Devonian Period, 35, 40, 91, 123
catastrophism, 24, 56, 120, 122
diamond, 59
Cenozoic Era, 27, 68, 81, 116, 118
dinosaurs, 54, 57, 68, 81, 119
Central America, 87, 132
Dobzhansky, Theodosius, 175
Chamberlin, T.C., 93, 138, 139, 143
“Doomsday vault, ” 180
Channeled Scablands, 144
Durkheim, Émile, 176
chemical weathering, 81–83, 172
Dylan, Bob, 62, 77, 104
Chicago, University of, 44, 122
Chicxulub crater, 56–57, 61, 120–1
earthquakes, 84–88; human-induced,
Chile, 84
99, 150
China, 88, 90, 132
East African Rift, 53
climate change, anthropogenic, 94–95,