Mineral Evolution

The evolution of genomic complexity and metabolic pathways during Earth's history. New research shows that minerals on Earth have also evolved alongside living organisms, and the diversity of minerals on our planet can be linked to the processes of life. Credit: Science, via Astrobiology Magazine.

Chemical Elements come together to make molecules, which form nebulas and protoplanetary discs, minerals which themsleves evolve. The Earth and other planetary bodies are both the result of such evolution and the crucible for further mineral evolution. Moreover, this abiotic evolution does not occur in isolation from life, but rather organic and mineral evolution go together (see above diagram; another aspect of this is James Lovelock's Gaia hypothesis) . In this context, linear diagrams are highly misleading, enforcing a simplistic narrative which, whilst useful, does not convey the multidimensional nature of the situation as a whole. Just as microcosm and macrocosm interact and have feedback loops, so do animate and inanimate, both together constituting the emergence of greater complexity. MAK120706