Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain
the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in
Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles
and JavaScript.
Groundwater flow redistributes heat in the Earth’s crust. Numerical simulations of groundwater flow show net cooling of groundwater basins, as well as cooling of the underlying lithosphere in areas where groundwater flows over large distances.
Natural hydrocarbon seeps account for up to 47% of the oil released into the oceans. In situ and remote measurements of chlorophyll concentrations suggest that natural hydrocarbons enhance productivity in surface waters in the Gulf of Mexico.
Anthropogenic emissions of reactive nitrogen have had severe environmental impacts. An analysis of reactive nitrogen emissions from the production, consumption and transport of commodities attributes roughly a quarter to international trade.
Streamflow is a mixture of precipitation of various ages. Oxygen isotope data suggests that a third of global river discharge is sourced from rainfall within the past few months, which accounts for less than 0.1% of global groundwater.
Transfer of CO2 from Earth’s interior to the atmosphere happens largely by volcanic degassing. Measurements of CO2 emissions from faults in the East African Rift system imply that tectonic degassing is also important for deep carbon release.
Bacteria have been shown to be involved in the reduction of HgII to elemental mercury. Laboratory experiments with HgII and different carbon sources reveal that purple bacteria can use HgII as an electron acceptor, promoting bacterial growth.
Nutrient input from icebergs can fertilize productivity in the ocean. Ten years of satellite measurements reveal that giant icebergs could be responsible for up to 20% of carbon export to depth in the Southern Ocean.
The El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) affects weather patterns worldwide. Numerical experiments with an Earth system model suggest that cloud feedbacks act to amplify ENSO variability by a factor of two or more.
A period of ocean anoxia about 120 million years ago coincided with high temperatures. A reconstruction of CO2 concentrations shows that volcanic outgassing from the Ontong Java Plateau caused CO2 levels to double during the anoxic event.
Subduction zone earthquakes can be followed by aseismic slip. Analysis of fault slip in northern Peru reveals transient aseismic slip that lasted for seven months and released more than 1,000% of the energy expelled by the quake that preceded it.
Sea level rose rapidly during Meltwater Pulse 1A, about 14,500 years ago. A reassessment of sea-level rise and isostatic adjustment suggests sea level rose roughly 8 to 15 m in total, with 0 to 10 m derived from the Antarctic ice sheets.
An absence in the ancient geological record of blueschist metamorphic rocks has been taken as evidence against early subduction. Thermodynamic calculations now suggest that blueschist rocks could not have formed on a younger, hotter Earth.
Aquatic ecosystems are important sources of the greenhouse gas nitrous oxide. Measurements of nitrous oxide concentrations from 321 rivers, lakes and ponds in Canada reveal that some boreal aquatic systems can act as net nitrous oxide sinks.
Plate tectonic motions can influence biological systems. Numerical modelling of the topographic evolution of New Zealand, combined with fish phylogenetic analyses suggest mountain growth directly influenced biological diversification.
During the last deglaciation, the Indian summer monsoon failed during periods of cooling in the North Atlantic. Sediment records suggest that the concomitant cooling of the surface of the Arabian Sea contributed to the monsoon weakening.
The physical state of atmospheric particulate matter affects its growth and reactivity, which can affect climate. Measurements of particle rebound reveal that particulate matter over the Amazon forest is usually liquid during wet and dry seasons.
Jupiter’s banded cloud layer contains enigmatic jets and vortices. Numerical simulations show that both features originate at depth in giant planet atmospheres, with vortices developing in areas of upwelling to shallow layers.
In active mountain belts, erosion is driven by bedrock landsliding. River water chemistry in New Zealand’s Southern Alps suggests that stochastic mass wasting processes also enhance chemical weathering in such environments.
The sediment load of China’s Yellow River has been declining. Analysis of 60 years of runoff and sediment load data attributes this decline to river engineering, with an increasing role of post-1990s land use changes on the Loess Plateau.
Extreme daily precipitation is thought to increase with warming at a rate of 6.5% per K. High-resolution simulations for the southern UK show this scaling for present conditions, but above 22 °C this scaling fails owing to changes in dynamics.