Addressing the history of the earth in terms of geological process and the resolution of the fossil record, Martin presents a lucid report on the current state of knowledge of a group of interconnected themes -- process, scale and hierarchy, and methodologies of historical sciences.

Preface

xi

Prologue: Methodology and Proof in Historical Science

1

(8)

1. Scale, Measurement, and Process: An Introduction

9

(15)

Scale and Measurement

9

(6)

Hierarchy and Scale

15

(4)

The Concept of Hierarchy

19

(5)

2. The Nature of the Stratigraphic Record: Curds and Whey

24

(29)

Time, Rock, and Facies

24

(5)

The Hierarchy of the Timescale

29

(4)

Refinement of the Timescale

33

(2)

The Fractal Nature of the Geologic Record

35

(8)

The Stratigraphic Distribution of Fossils

43

(6)

Graphic Correlation

49

(4)

3. Random Walks in Muck

53

(19)

A One-Dimensional Random Walk

54

(5)

Fluxes and Fick

59

(4)

Solution of the Guinasso-Schink Equation

63

(1)

Estimation of Sedimentary Parameters

64

(3)

Caveats of Diffusion-Based Mixing Models

67

(3)

Size-Selective Feeding

70

(2)

4. Time and Taphonomy

72

(23)

Time Averaging and Temporal Resolution

72

(9)

Taphonomic Half-lives and Taphofacies

81

(2)

Death, Decay, and Temporal Resolution in Nearshore Settings

83

(4)

The Stratigraphy of Shell Concentrations

87

(3)

Taphonomic Gradients in Deeper Shelf and Slope Settings

90

(3)

"Laws" of Taphonomy?

93

(2)

5. Biological Processes Inferred from the Fossil Record

95

(37)

Upward Scaling of Ecological Processes?

96

(1)

Population Dynamics and Extinction in the Fossil Record

97

(5)

Evolution, Hierarchy, and the Principle of Complementarity

102

(7)

Caveats

109

(1)

Stasis and Community Unity?

110

(4)

Disturbance and Succession

114

(4)

Alternative Community States

118

(6)

The Origins of Phyla

124

(2)

Time, Life, and Humankind: Applications

126

(6)

6. Cycles and Secular Trends

132

(31)

Cycles of Sea Level

133

(10)

Continental Configuration and Climate

143

(6)

Cycles of CO(2)

149

(9)

Evolution of the Long-Term Carbon Cycle

158

(5)

7. Energy and Evolution

163

(23)

Cambro-Devonian Seas: Punctuated "Superoligotrophy"

164

(7)

Alternative Interpretations

171

(2)

The Permo-Carboniferous

173

(2)

Permian Reversion to Superoligotrophy?

175

(2)

The Meso-Cenozoic

177

(2)

Secular Increase in Biomass and Diversity

179

(2)

More Alternative Interpretations

181

(1)

Interaction Between Ecologic and Evolutionary Hierarchies

182

(4)

8. Extinction

186

(26)

What Is an Extinction?

187

(3)

Impacts and the K/T Extinction

190

(2)

Traditional Causes of Extinction

192

(4)

Murder on the Orient Express

196

(2)

"Catastrophic" Fluctuations in Nutrient Levels

198

(3)

Catastrophe and Extinction

201

(1)

Extinction and Life History

202

(5)

Periodicity, Perturbation, and the Structure of Ecosystems

207

(5)

Epilogue: The Nature of Nature

212

(5)

References

217

(36)

Index

253

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