This volume is the final outcome of a conference designed to wrap up IOCP Project 157 ( Early Organic Evolution and Mineral and Energy Resources ) after a decade of prolific activity. The picturesque solitude of Maria Laach Abbey in the Eifel Mountains (FRO) provided the appropriate setting for a conclave of some 80 specialists from the various walks of the field who, during the week of Sept. 19 - 23, 1988, strived hard to define the state of the art in the principal segments of this Earth Science frontier. The following pages contain the essence of the conference transactions, giv ing a vivid cross-section of the activities pursued by IOCP Project 157 during its final years. The coverage of topics is not necessarily complete, but rather eclec tic in part. With regard to single papers dealing with modern analogues of ancient processes, the book title might even be considered a grave misnomer. Neverthe less, all contributions relate to the subject in the widest sense, and the reader should be reminded that much of the heterogeneity reflected by the volume de rives from the fact that it is primarily a research report from a highly inter disciplinary field rather than a textbook.