Answer all three essay questions fully. 1.) Discuss the two major lessons we lea

Question

Answer all three essay questions fully. 1.) Discuss the two major lessons we learned from studying the unsual faunas of the Edicaran sandstones and Burgess Shales. Be specific and complete
2.) Discuss the origin of life on earth. Be sure to include information about: a.) what is needed to form life on earth b.) what are the possible steps needed to produce life on earth c.) in what environments did life on earth likely develope
3.) Discuss environments in South Central NYS about 365 million years ago. Be sure to include information about: a.) Location of south central NYS at that time b.) the geologic environments (in all cardinal directions from Binghamton) c.) the climate d.) types of marine life e.) types of terrestrial life environments at that time in south central NYS
Answer all three essay questions fully. 1.) Discuss the two major lessons we learned from studying the unsual faunas of the Edicaran sandstones and Burgess Shales. Be specific and complete
2.) Discuss the origin of life on earth. Be sure to include information about: a.) what is needed to form life on earth b.) what are the possible steps needed to produce life on earth c.) in what environments did life on earth likely develope
3.) Discuss environments in South Central NYS about 365 million years ago. Be sure to include information about: a.) Location of south central NYS at that time b.) the geologic environments (in all cardinal directions from Binghamton) c.) the climate d.) types of marine life e.) types of terrestrial life environments at that time in south central NYS
1.) Discuss the two major lessons we learned from studying the unsual faunas of the Edicaran sandstones and Burgess Shales. Be specific and complete
2.) Discuss the origin of life on earth. Be sure to include information about: a.) what is needed to form life on earth b.) what are the possible steps needed to produce life on earth c.) in what environments did life on earth likely develope
3.) Discuss environments in South Central NYS about 365 million years ago. Be sure to include information about: a.) Location of south central NYS at that time b.) the geologic environments (in all cardinal directions from Binghamton) c.) the climate d.) types of marine life e.) types of terrestrial life environments at that time in south central NYS

Explanation / Answer

Ediacara fauna, unique assemblage of soft-bodied organisms preserved worldwide as fossil impressions in sandstone from the Proterozoic Eon at the close of Precambrian time. These fauna represent an important landmark in the evolution of life on Earth: they immediately predate the explosion of life-forms at the beginning of the Cambrian Period 541 million years ago. The Ediacara fauna, named for the Ediacara Hills of South Australia in which they were discovered in 1946, were the first metazoans (animals made up of more than one type of cell) that required atmospheric oxygen for their growth. These animals were the precursors of organisms with skeletons, the appearance of which marked the end of Precambrian time and the beginning of the Phanerozoic Eon (541 million years ago to the present). The discovery of the Ediacara fauna demonstrated that a far more complex level of evolution had been achieved during Precambrian time than had been previously thought.

The Burgess Shale is a fossil-bearing deposit exposed in the Canadian Rockies of British Columbia, Canada. It is famous for the exceptional preservation of the soft parts of its fossils. At 508 million years (Middle Cambrian) old, it is one of the earliest fossil beds containing soft-part imprints.

The rock unit is a black shale and crops out at a number of localities near the town of Field in Yoho National Park and the Kicking Horse Pass. Another outcrop is in Kootenay National Park 42 km to the south.

2. It is generally agreed that all life today evolved by common descent from a single primitive lifeform. It is not known how this early form came about, but scientists think it was a natural process which took place perhaps 3,900 million years ago. This is in accord with the philosophy of naturalism: only natural causes are admitted. It is not known whether metabolism or genetics came first. The main hypothesis which supports genetics first is the RNA world hypothesis, and the one which supports metabolism first is the Protein world hypothesis.

The earliest claimed lifeforms are fossilized microorganisms (or microfossils). They were found in iron and silica-rich rocks which were once hydrothermal vents in the Nuvvuagittuq greenstone belt of Quebec, Canada. These rocks are as old as 4.28 billion years. The tubular forms they contain are shown in a report. If this is the oldest record of life on Earth, it suggests "an almost instantaneous emergence of life" after oceans formed 4.4 billion years ago. According to Stephen Blair Hedges, "If life arose relatively quickly on Earth… then it could be common in the universe".

2 b.

Charles Darwin proposed a natural process for the origin of life.

He suggested that the original spark of life may have begun in a "warm little pond, with all sorts of ammonia and phosphoricsalts, lights, heat, electricity, etc. A protein compound was then chemically formed ready to undergo still more complex changes". He went on to explain that "at the present day such matter would be instantly devoured or absorbed, which would not have been the case before living creatures were formed".

2 c.

There is almost no geological record from before 3.8 billion years ago. The environment that existed in the Hadean era was hostile to life, but how much so is not known. There was a time, between 3.8 and 4.1 billion years ago, which is known as the Late Heavy Bombardment. It is so named because many lunar craters are thought to have formed then. The situation on other planets, such as Earth, Venus, Mercury and Mars must have been similar. These impacts would likely sterilize the Earth (kill all life), if it existed at that time.

Several people have suggested that the chemicals in the cell give clues as to what the early seas must have been like. In 1926, Macallum noted that the inorganiccomposition of the cell cytosol dramatically differs from that of modern sea water: "the cell… has endowments transmitted from a past almost as remote as the origin of life on earth". For example: "All cells contain much more potassium, phosphate, and transition metals than modern ... oceans, lakes, or rivers. Under the anoxic, CO2-dominated primordial atmosphere, the chemistry of inland basins at geothermal fields would [be like the chemistry inside] modern cells".

Temperature of Earth

If life evolved in the deep ocean, near a hydrothermal vent, it could have originated as early as 4 to 4.2 billion years ago. If, on the other hand, life originated at the surface of the planet, a common opinion is it could only have done so between 3.5 and 4 billion years ago.

Lazcano and Miller (1994) suggest that the pace of molecular evolution was dictated by the rate of recirculating water through mid-ocean submarine vents. Complete recirculation takes 10 million years, so any organic compounds produced by then would be altered or destroyed by temperatures exceeding 300 °C. They estimate that the development of a 100 kilobase genome of a DNA/protein primitive heterotroph into a 7000 gene filamentous cyanobacterium would have required only 7 million years.

History of Earth's atmosphere

Originally, the Earth's atmosphere had almost no free oxygen. It gradually changed to what it is today, over a very long time (see Great Oxygenation Event). The process began with cyanobacteria. They were the first organisms to make free oxygen by photosynthesis. Most organisms today need oxygen for their metabolism; only a few can use other sources for respiration.

So it is expected that the first proto-organisms were chemoautotrophs, and did not use aerobic respiration. They were anaerobic.

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