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Severe winters have occurred frequently in mid-latitude Eurasia during the past decade. Simulations with a 100-member ensemble of an atmospheric model detect an influence of declining Arctic sea-ice cover.
Compared with the other terrestrial planets, Earth's atmosphere is nitrogen-rich. Thermodynamic calculations suggest that nitrogen is readily degassed from oxidized mantle beneath Earth's subduction zones.
Mantle convection helps create continental plateaux. Seismic imaging of the mantle beneath the Canadian Cordillera—an ancient plateau—suggests the plateau formed when upwelling mantle caused a block of lithosphere to detach.
At mid-ocean ridges, upper oceanic crust forms from a central magma reservoir, but it is unclear how the lower crust forms. Seismic data from the East Pacific Rise identify a series of smaller magma lenses that help form the lower crust.
During the last deglaciation, Northern Hemisphere ice sheets discharged ice and meltwater. Seafloor scours and numerical modelling suggest that freshwater and icebergs from the Laurentide ice sheet reached the subtropical North Atlantic.
The majority of basaltic volcanism on the Moon occurred more than 3 billion years ago. Small mounded formations on the lunar nearside may be products of basaltic eruptions less than 100 million years ago, suggesting a long decline of magmatic activity.
Solar dimming from aerosols has the potential to reduce surface evaporation. A detection analysis suggests that through this effect, river flow increased by up to 25% in the most heavily polluted regions of Europe around 1980.
Compositional variations in the mantle can generate anomalous magmatism, calling into question the need for hot, upwelling mantle plumes. Numerical simulations, however, point to a plume source for the North Atlantic large igneous province.
Salt marshes protect coastlines against waves. Wave flume experiments show that marsh vegetation causes substantial wave dissipation and prevents erosion of the underlying surface, even during extreme storm surge conditions.
Global CO2 emissions are usually assessed from uncertain bottom-up estimates. A satellite-based top-down estimate suggests that emissions of NOx in East Asia have been reduced relative to those of CO2 since 2003, probably due to cleaner technology.
The salinity of the Nordic Seas dropped between 1965 and 1990. Observations and a model hindcast suggest the source of this freshwater anomaly was water from the Atlantic inflow, instead of the relatively fresh Arctic Ocean as previously suspected.
The Benguela current cooled over the past 12 million years. Numerical modelling suggests that uplift of parts of Africa during this time enhanced coastal low level winds and promoted greater upwelling of cool subsurface waters.
Precursor events to earthquakes are rarely reproduced. Measurement of groundwater chemistry in Iceland between 2008 and 2013 reveals distinct changes prior to two consecutive >M5 earthquakes.
Past continental dryness trends are difficult to assess. A comprehensive analysis of hundreds of combinations of data sets suggests that only 24.6% of the global land area have been exposed to robust dryness changes since 1948.
Earthquakes on oceanic transform faults are often preceded by foreshock swarms. A theoretical model suggests that circulating hydrothermal fluids, which compress as the fault rocks expand and deform, cause this precursor seismic activity.
A series of unusual, greenhouse-gas-induced warming events occurred in the Eocene. An isotope reconstruction of these hyperthermals indicates multiple events of a constant size and frequency, consistent with orbital forcing of the carbon cycle.
Melting of the Antarctic ice sheet and ice shelves reduces the salinity of the coastal seas. Satellite and model data suggest that the freshwater discharge has also caused coastal Antarctic sea level to rise by about 2 mm yr−1 more than the regional mean.
Wrinkle structures in ancient sedimentary environments are enigmatic. Wave-tank experiments suggest that wrinkle structures are shaped by microbial mat fragments that are moved by waves over sandy-bed surfaces, and thus are morphological biosignatures.
Methane emissions from the sea floor affect ocean chemistry and can reach the atmosphere. Observations from the northern US Atlantic margin reveal about 570 gas plumes at water depths between 50 and 1,700 m.
The Cretaceous/Palaeogene mass extinction caused ecosystem upheaval. Fish abundance data from the Tethys Sea and the Pacific Ocean indicate heterogeneity in the extinction and recovery, with greater resilience in the Pacific.