The Gulf of Mexico basin was created by an episode of crustal extension and sea-floor spreading during the Mesozoic breakup of Pangea (Salvador, 1987; Sawyer et al., 1991; Buffler and Thomas, 1994; Harry and Londono, 2004; Jacques and Clegg, 2002).
Title: Life Before Earth. Abstract: An extrapolation of the genetic complexity of organisms to earlier times suggests that life began before the Earth was formed. Life may have started from systems with single heritable elements that are functionally equivalent to a nucleotide.
by Fraser Cain on September 30, 2013. Life has existed on Earth for billions of years, appearing shortly after the planet had cooled and liquid water became available. From the first bacteria to the amazingly complex animals we see today, life has colonized every corner of our planet.