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Continental cores, or cratons, are thought to have been stable for billions of years. Analysis of seismic images, however, suggests that the craton root deep beneath North America may have been shifted by mantle flow.
Soil organic matter is a large global carbon pool. Isotopic labelling of litter in the lab and the field reveals that soil organic matter forms from labile organic compounds and litter fragments early and late in decomposition, respectively.
Land-use changes can modify regional climate patterns. A comparison of climate simulations and observations show that a large-scale irrigation scheme in East Africa inhibits rainfall over the irrigation scheme, while enhancing it further away.
Model and proxy-based estimates of climate cooling from volcanic eruptions have disagreed. Refined simulations and tree-ring time series converge on a total of 0.8 to 1.3 °C of cooling in the Northern Hemisphere from the 1257 and 1815 eruptions.
Possible impact of Arctic warming on the mid-latitudes has sparked interest. Analyses of observations and climate model simulations reveal two distinct patterns of Arctic warming that affect East Asia and North America, respectively.
Rising temperature can increase soil organic matter decomposition and CO2 emissions. In a 4,000 km north–south transect in Chile and Antarctica, soil geochemistry, which can be modified by climate, is the dominant direct control of carbon storage.
The presence of dynamic ice sheets during Snowball Earth glaciations is controversial. Geological evidence and ice sheet modelling suggest that ice sheets may have responded to orbital forcing when reached a certain threshold.
The volatile-rich eruptions required to produce the lunar volcanic glasses are at odds with a volatile-poor Moon. Analyses of the glasses suggest that there was enough of the volatile element carbon in the parent magmas to drive the eruptions.
Braided channels are rare in submarine environments, yet common in fluvial systems. Laboratory experiments suggest that the formation mechanisms are the same, but submarine channels are typically not wide enough to promote braiding.
Lying beyond Saturn’s main rings, the F ring is shepherded by two small satellites. Simulations suggest that this enigmatic configuration can result from the partial disruption of satellites in collisions at the edge of the main ring system.
Rivers and streams are key sources of CO2. Estimated emissions and aquatic productivity from across the US show that small streams predominantly emit CO2 produced in soils, but the contribution from aquatic metabolism increases with river size.
Tropospheric levels of ozone and its precursors have risen in Asia since 2000. Satellite observations and chemistry–transport simulations suggest that transport of these pollutants to North America partly offsets benefits from stricter regulation.
Faults are unlocked by earthquakes. Analysis of seismic data from the 2015 Nepal earthquake shows that only part of the Main Himalayan Thrust fault was unzipped by the quake, leaving much of the fault locked and ready to slip in a future event.
Plate tectonic motions cause faults to slip during earthquakes and through creep. Laboratory shear experiments on semi-brittle rock-analogue materials suggest that such slip could occur via growth of a series of fractures.
The role of static versus dynamic stresses in earthquake clusters is unclear. Analysis of earthquakes triggered by a dyke intrusion at an Icelandic volcano unambiguously demonstrates that static stresses are important for earthquake clustering.
Atmospheric blocking can contribute to extreme weather events. A Lagrangian approach applied to reanalysis data shows that a large fraction of air masses are heated before entering a blocking system, pointing to a role for latent heating.
An extreme rainfall event occurred near the Black Sea town of Krymsk in July 2012. Simulations with a high-resolution weather forecasting model reveal that Black Sea surface warming has led to convective precipitation, which can bring strong rains.
Ice-shelf grounding lines off the coast of Antarctica have retreated over the past 20,000 years. Precise dating of moraines suggests the timing of retreat in the Ross Sea was controlled by the interplay between accumulation and ocean forcing.
NASA’s Curiosity rover detected light-toned rocks along its traverse on Mars. Geochemical data suggest that the rocks represent a diversity of silica-rich magmatic rock types that may be analogous to Earth’s early continental crust.
Water plume eruptions on Saturn’s icy moon Enceladus are delayed relative to the peak tidal stresses. Simulations suggest the delay can be explained by the moon’s interior structure and the presence of a subsurface ocean.