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The melting behaviour of Earth’s primitive mantle was strongly sensitive to changes in oxygen fugacity, according to high-pressure experiments on pyrolite under different redox conditions.
Earth system models project that lake temperatures will warm beyond the range of natural variability to which aquatic ecosystems are adapted in the coming decades, with conditions exceeding natural analogues sooner at lower latitudes.
Core processes, dynamically linked to mantle and climate-related surface processes, contribute to both the long-term trend and shorter-term fluctuations observed in Earth’s polar motion, according to predictions from physics-informed neural networks.
The high oxygen fugacities and water contents recorded by zircons from Archaean granitoids can be explained by partial melting at the base of overthickened oceanic crust without requiring subduction, according to a phase equilibrium modelling study.
Nitrogen deposition in China decreased by 14% between 2010 and 2020, with greater declines in nitrogen from industrial than agricultural sources, according to decadal observations of atmospheric deposition of different forms of reactive nitrogen.
Extreme and highly variable summer floods in the Nile River valley through the North African Humid Period were modulated by both interannual and multi-decadal climate modes, according to an offshore sedimentary archive.
High-resolution numerical simulations show that subduction of the Indian plate peeled off the mantle lithosphere from the Tibetan Plateau. This process successfully explains first-order observations of the stepwise growth of the plateau, the migration of magmatism in the region and its seismic properties.
Delamination of the lithospheric mantle from the overriding Eurasian plate below the Tibetan Plateau is consistent with topographic, magmatic and seismic observations, according to numerical simulations of the geodynamic evolution of the plateau.
Oxygen in shallow shelf waters rose linearly with atmospheric oxygen in the Neoproterozoic era, potentially driving the first radiation of marine animals, but widespread ocean oxygenation came later, according to reconstructions of oxygen levels and marine productivity.
Climate simulations suggest atmospheric tides in resonance with atmospheric waves on early Earth when days were shorter could have modified tropical convection patterns and warmed the planet despite a fainter Sun.
Climate models and paleoclimate proxy records indicate that the absence of preserved eastern Mediterranean organic-rich layers preceding mid-Pliocene glaciation is linked to a pan-North African humid period caused by a more northerly African monsoon front relative to subsequent glacials. The vegetation expansion caused by this humid phase might have influenced early hominin dispersal.
Surface meltwater plays a key role in ice shelf stability, and consequently, Antarctica’s sea level contributions. New satellite observations suggest there is substantially more surface meltwater than previously thought, and models are underestimating it.
Folding-related brittle deformation structures in accretionary wedges may contribute to shallow seismicity in subduction zones, according to a compilation of structural evidence.
Modelling results suggest that ice sheets may be more vulnerable to ocean water intrusion at the grounding zone than previously thought due to a potential tipping point that leads to runaway melting.
An absence of sapropels in eastern Mediterranean sediments suggests an expansion of vegetation over a relatively humid North African landscape preceding the mid-Pliocene glaciation, potentially facilitating early human migration.