Geobiology in space exploration International Workshop (Marrakech, Morocco - Feb 7-9, 2011), Post Meeting Field Trip Geomicrobiology and Geology from PreCambrian to Quaternary (Feb. 10-14, 2011)

The field trip will investigate several sites with geomicrobiological or geological interests. The interactions between the geosphere and the biosphere are central questions in environmental and geological research. The relationships between microorganisms and their environment are an important example of these interactions, resulting in differentiated and widely distributed microbial sediments. Unicellular organisms quietly, but persistently shaped and re-shaped our planet through their metabolic processes. Microbes, which include prokaryotes and eukaryotes such as small algae, fungi, and protozoans, have left significant evidence of their presence and activities in sediments as fossils, fabrics and chemical signatures (e.g. Riding and Awramik, 2000). Microbes, prokaryotes, were the first forms of life on our planet, and they dominated the biosphere during most of the Precambrian. Probably, one of the most significant results of these interactions is the Great Oxidation Event (for review see Buick, 2008). Geobiologists study modern ecosystems, ancient mineral deposits and associated fossils, and experimental systems in order to test hypotheses and refine models designed to reconstruct past environmental and evolutionary events (Cady and Noffke, 2010).