COEVOLUTION OF THE EARTH’S SYSTEMS AND LIFE ON EARTH BY: SAMANTHA GERNAT

Provide evidence for the simultaneous coevolution of Earth's systems and life on Earth Investigate the changing causes, effects, and feedbacks between the biosphere and Earth’s other systems, where geoscience factors control the evolution of life, which in turn continuously alters Earth’s surface. Examples include how photosynthetic life altered the atmosphere through the production of oxygen, which in turn increased weathering rates and allowed for the evolution of animal life; how microbial life on land increased the formation of soil, which in turn allowed for the evolution of land plants; or how the evolution of corals created reefs that altered patterns of erosion and deposition along coastlines and provided habitats for the evolution of new life forms. The many dynamic and delicate feedbacks between the biosphere and other Earth systems cause a continual co-evolution of Earth’s surface and the life that exists on it.

What is coevolution? It is the process of reciprocal evolutionary change that occurs between pairs of species or among groups of species as they interact with each other Meaning that both are able to change simultaneously, even though they adapt in their own particular way Always relying on each other

Earth’s spheres https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VMxjz WHbyFM Biosphere https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXh_7 wbnS3A Biosphere Atmosphere Geosphere Hydrosphere Lithosphere Cryosphere

Photosynthetic life vs. Atmosphere Plants create oxygen through photosynthesis Increase in weathering rates Weathering: Process at which rocks are broken down Chemical/Physical Oxygen Carried by erosion Before, Earth = no free oxygen Great Oxidation = O2 Ozone layer = ultraviolet radiation Allow bigger animals to live

Microbial life vs. Lithosphere/Geosphere Microbe = single-celled organisms Oldest life form on Earth Air, ground, food, us Without them = No food digestion Growth of plants Less oxygen Organic matter = remains of organisms & wastes in the environment Organic compounds (chemical compounds that contain carbon) Don’t involve life & nutrient role Microbial activity measured by soil respiration & carbon dioxide release (organic matter nutrients>inorganic forms> plants) Soil microorganisms = soil quality Plants rely on them Mineralize organic nutrients Growth & Development Plant litter and residues into soil organic matter Direct reservoir of carbon & nitrogen through biological decomposition Efficient nutrient cycle Uniformly rocky surface gave way due to chemical elements > softer material (earliest soil form) > became enriched from minerals from rocks & decaying organic matter Creation of soil = Earth itself, an atmosphere, waters, and life forms Leaching = removal of soil particles that have become dissolved in water (potassium, calcium & magnesium) enough to set in motion the development of soil & essential for growth of plant life

Coral Reefs vs. Hydrosphere Stromatolites = Biochemical structures Formed in shallow water by trapping, binding, and cementation By microbial mats of cyanobacteria Fossilized stromatolites provide ancient records of life on Earth Remained reef-building organisms until 600million years ago Pre-Cambrian era > Ordovician–Silurian Extinction Event > Devonian Period > Rapid fluctuations of sea levels > Permian period > Permian-Triassic Extinction > Cretaceous-Tertiary Mass Extinction > The Paleocene/Eocene Thermal Maximum > Modern Day Corals (sea anemones, jellyfish, algae) settle on solid surfaces to create limestone As the old die, creates surface new individuals to establish themselves Wave erosion = Act like sandpaper More sediment = more erosion Wave Deposition = Slow water Ocean Currents = Transport basic nutrients needed to support life Plankton (cannot effectively propel themselves) > right nutrients (phytoplankton) > population growth creates zooplankton > fish Marine life > marine inhabitants > modified by their inhabitants (marine organisms = ecosystem engineers)

Glaciers vs. Cryosphere Dense ice that move under their own weight Ice Sheets (Continental glaciers) = glacier ice mass that covers terrain Snow accumulates year after year and then melts > compresses > gets denser and firmer Ice Sheet Dynamics = motion Temperature and base strength Basal Sheer strength = temperature, roughness, and softness This causes hills, lakes, etc. Regional affect on the elevation of land, which lifts up once the ice has melted Creates cooler climates and different ecosystems https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=loI584OFVpE

Works cited http://www.britannica.com/science/coevolution http://www.cotf.edu/ete/ESS/ESSspheres.html http://study.com/academy/lesson/the-four-spheres-of-earth-geosphere-hydrosphere-biosphere-and-atmosphere.html https://nsidc.org/cryosphere/allaboutcryosphere.html http://education.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/weathering/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geological_history_of_oxygen https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Oxygenation_Event https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_the_evolutionary_history_of_life http://www.microbeworld.org/what-is-a-microbe http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12892845 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organic_matter https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soil_food_web https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soil_biology http://soilquality.org/indicators/respiration.html https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organic_compound https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soil http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Soils.aspx https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cementation_(geology) http://globalreefproject.com/technical-publications-coral-reef-history.php http://www.columbia.edu/itc/eeeb/baker/N0316/Lecture%205/page2.htm http://www.ck12.org/user:Y3JpcGVjQGxjc2MuazEyLmluLnVz/section/Erosion-and-Deposition-by-Waves/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marine_habitats http://www.ck12.org/earth-science/Landforms-from-Wave-Erosion-and-Deposition/lesson/Landforms-from-Wave-Erosion-and-Deposition-HS-ES/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coastal_erosion http://education.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/ice-sheet/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_sheet http://scied.ucar.edu/shortcontent/geosphere https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glacier https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice-sheet_dynamics