Early Earth Environments and Biospheric Evolution

Dear Colleagues,

In the last few decades, the field of Geobiology, which aims at deciphering the interactions between the physical Earth and biosphere, largely developed and many exciting breakthroughs have been made in our understanding of the co-evolution of life and Earth-driving mechanisms.

This Special Issue of Geosciences invites contributions on latest insights from the Precambrian rock records and modern analogues to decipher interactions between early life and Earth systems.

Studies based on biogeochemical proxies, such as, but not limited to, C, N, S and Fe isotopes, specific compound biomarkers, as well as fossil morphology (microfossils, biomats), batch culture experiments and fossilization experiments, which can improve our understanding of biosignatures of Precambrian metabolisms and their temporal evolution in interactions with Earth surficial reservoirs (i.e., atmosphere, oceans and continental land masses) are encouraged. We also welcome contributions using micro- to nano-scale analyses looking for biogenicity of earliest life traces and discussing the nature of their host environments. Additionally, geochemical box models and numerical approaches applied to Precambrian surficial geobiological co-evolution are welcomed.

It is recommended that authors approach the Guest Editor at an early stage before submission in order to confirm the appropriateness of their potential contributions.

Dr. Christophe Thomazo
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Geosciences is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.