Geobiology
MIT OpenCourseWare offers this introduction to the co-evolution of life and the environment across roughly 4 billion years of Earth history. The course examines life as a geological agent, tracing how chemical and physical processes in the atmosphere, hydrosphere, cryosphere and solid earth have shaped biological evolution, and how living organisms have in turn altered the planet's rock, air and water systems. Materials include lecture notes, readings and assignments drawn from MIT's Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences curriculum, covering topics such as the origin of life, the rise of oxygen, biomineralization and the deep-time record of biosphere-geosphere interaction. As with other MIT OCW offerings, all course materials are free to access, with no certificate offered. Suited to students with some background in earth or life sciences who want a systems-level view of how biology and geology have been intertwined since the planet's earliest history.