Biochemical systems, evolution common

Incidentally, scientists who believe in God or a reality beyond nature are much more common than popular media stories lead one to believe— there is no reason to think that the figure of 90 percent of the general population that believes in God is much different for scientists. Ken Miller, whose argument from imperfection I analyzed in the last chapter, is like myself a Roman Catholic, and he makes the point in public talks that belief in evolution is quite compatible with his religious views. I agree with him that they are compatible.4 The compatibility or lack of compatibility, however, is irrelevant to the scientific question of whether Darwinian evolution of biochemical systems is true.)... 

Evolutionary trees based on morphology or biochemical differences indicate that all living systems are related through a common evolution. 

Because sedimentary carbonates represent primarily chemical and biochemical precipitates from seawater, and because they make up 20% of the common sedimentary rock record, these rock types have been particularly good sources of chemical and mineralogical data for interpretation of the secular and cyclic evolution of the Earth s surface environment. This carbonate rock record as a function of geological age is now explored as are age trends in other rock types and sediment properties. With this information as background material, we can then discuss what these relationships tell us about the history of carbonates and the exogenic system throughout geologic dme. 

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