ENERGY-FLOW AND GEOSPHERE INTERACTIONS ARCHEAN TO THE PRESENT - THE FOUNDATION OF THE GLOBAL RESOURCE BASE

Direct observation of processes on modern Earth have shown that the co oling processes lead to geochemical mixing influencing all the geosphe res and the continental crust. In the past two decades the importance of water cooling and hydrosphere interactions with the outer 10 km or so of the crust have explained a host of chemical and isotopic feature s. Today, new attention is being focused on the role of the biomass in Earth chemistry and the scale of the processes. Almost all of our mos t basic resources, metals, fossil fuels, fertile soils, involved the i nteractions of atmosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere, with the outer shel ls of Earth. New needs in waste management technologies involve use of the same knowledge. While there can be no doubt that the ancient Eart h was more energetic, there is still no general agreement on the main styles of convection, perhaps reflecting more chaotic tectonics. But, for sure, the biosphere was alive and well. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V.