ABSTRACT
Not only have individual taxa evolved but also the biosphere, as a whole, has changed since its origin over 3800 my ago. Changes through time in the atmosphere, hydrosphere and the lithosphere are intimately linked and related to the evolution of the biosphere. All the main systems of the planet, the lithosphere, the atmosphere, the hydrosphere and the biosphere have changed and each one has interacted with another. If so there are clearly important feed-back relationships between the atmosphere and the biosphere. The hydrosphere is also constantly interfacing with the atmosphere by diffusion of gases from one to the other. At a smaller scale the hydrosphere interfaces directly with the lithosphere at deep-sea hot springs: here the huge volumes of water that circulate through the hot crust of mid-oceanic ridges vent to the sea-floor carrying dissolved calcium, iron, manganese and silica together with CO2.
