Editorial preface to special issue: Dynamics of Earth's climate system and biogeochemical cycles in deep time

The Earth's deep past reveals both prolonged and rapid climate and environmental changes in response to external forcings. The baseline provided by the paleoclimatic and biogeochemical records is comparable—in many cases—with modern changes in terms of both magnitudes and rates; accordingly, study of these past changes helps elucidate the dynamics of the Earth system. This Virtual Special Issue, comprising 21 papers, brings together the latest research in paleoclimate and biogeochemistry from both marine and terrestrial archives and their linkage to the evolution of life in Earth's history. These papers highlight studies of Earth's past climate during critical transitions (e.g., extreme climate change and mass extinction intervals), biogeochemical cycles of elements using novel geochemical and biological proxies, paleoclimate modeling, high-resolution stratigraphic records, and new approaches to Earth-System history.