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Jupiter's icy moon Europa is criss-crossed by extensional features. A tectonic reconstruction suggests that Europa's extension is balanced by subduction — if so, Earth may not be the only planetary body with a plate tectonic system.
In 2004, a phase transition was discovered in the most abundant lower-mantle mineral. A decade of focused experiments, computations and seismic imaging stimulated by this discovery has revealed previously unknown complexities in Earth's deep mantle.
The release of large quantities of methane from ocean sediments might affect global climate change. The discovery of expansive methane seeps along the US Atlantic margin provides an ideal test bed for such a marine methane–climate connection.
The topography of the Earth's surface can be read as an archive of past climatic and tectonic upheavals. Field data reveal how a bedrock gorge may be erased within a human lifetime, taking with it the evidence of a major earthquake.
Multicellular animals probably evolved at the seafloor after a rise in oceanic oxygen levels. Biogeochemical model simulations suggest that as these animals started to rework the seafloor, they triggered a negative feedback that reduced global oxygen.
Particles of smoke from natural and human-made fires absorb sunlight and contribute to global warming. Laboratory experiments suggest that smoke is often more absorbing than current numerical models of global climate assume.
Sandstone arches and other striking landforms are the showpieces of national parks around the globe. Experiments and numerical analyses show that they result from a self-organization process that involves vertical load, wind erosion and grain locking.
The global ocean overturning circulation relies on dense deep waters being mixed back up to the surface. An observational analysis shows that turbulent mixing in the abyss around Antarctica varies with the strength of surface eddies and thus probably also wind speeds.
Southwest Australia has become increasingly dry over the past century. Simulations with a high-resolution global climate model show that this trend is linked to greenhouse gas emissions and ozone depletion — and that it is likely to continue.
During the early Pliocene epoch, tropical sea surface temperatures were thought to be similar to those of today, even though global mean temperatures were several degrees warmer. Temperature reconstructions now suggest that the Pliocene tropical warm pools were about two degrees warmer than those at present.
Water at the base of ice sheets can lead to faster ice flow. Radar sounding of the Greenland ice sheet reveals that refreezing of this water can also induce large changes in ice flow and structure.
The origins of topographic relief are challenging to disentangle. Modelling shows that differential isostatic rebound due to erosion of rocks of variable density may influence topography, inspiring a fresh look at topographic highs in landscapes.
Rapid deposition of wind-borne silt after the end of the last glacial period buried a large reservoir of organic carbon in the deep soil. Geochemical analyses suggest that this sequestered soil carbon could be released to the atmosphere if exposed to decomposition.
The processes responsible for the growth of Earth's first continents are enigmatic. The geochemical signature of 4-billion-year-old rocks discovered in Canada points to a key role for shallow magmatic processes above upwelling mantle rocks.
Microbes quickly consumed much of the methane released in the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill. Time-series measurements now suggest that, after a steep rise, methane oxidation rates crashed while hydrocarbon discharge was still continuing at the wellhead.
