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Groundwater recharged less than 50 years ago is vulnerable to contamination and land-use changes. Data and simulations suggest that up to 6% of continental groundwater is modern—forming the largest component of the active hydrologic cycle.
Closure of the Earth’s energy budget relies on strong aerosol cooling since 1998, if the same feedbacks apply for anthropogenic and natural variability. An analysis of climate model simulations suggests that these feedbacks are instead distinct.
The Moon may have accreted from a disk of debris after a giant impact. Simulations suggest that part of the Moon derives from volatile-poor melt in the hot inner disk, with most of the volatile elements condensing later and accreting to Earth.
The last deglaciation was interrupted by the Antarctic Cold Reversal. Proxy records and climate modelling suggest that a redistribution of oceanic and atmospheric heat caused changes in temperature and hydrology across the Southern Hemisphere.
Lakes are a large source of CO2. An analysis of chemical and physical data from 5,118 boreal lakes reveals that a majority emit CO2 originating primarily from terrestrial sources rather than CO2 produced within the lakes.
Shallow mantle flow could be induced by the motions of overriding tectonic plates or by deeper mantle convection. Analysis of mantle flow patterns in the Pacific Northwest shows that flow aligns with the motions of the largest oceanic plates.
Oxygen minimum zones exert important controls over ocean biogeochemistry. Lagrangian modelling demonstrates that the mean positions of mesoscale eddies delimit the boundaries of the Peruvian oxygen minimum zone.
Microbes live under glaciers that have persisted for millions of years, without a clear energy supply. Analyses of crushed rocks suggest that interactions of glaciers with the rocks beneath can produce enough H2 to support methanogenic bacteria.
ENSO-driven rainfall patterns are set to change as the climate warms. A moisture budget decomposition of simulations from 18 climate models reveals the mechanisms driving the shift in rainfall variability from western to central Pacific.
Microbe-mediated reactions remove nitrogen from river water as it flows through sediments. Simulations of the Mississippi River network suggest that denitrification due to flow through small-scale river bedforms exceeds that along channel banks.
The observed increases in hurricane losses are often thought to result solely from societal change. A regression-based analysis of US economic losses reveals an upward trend between 1900 and 2005 that is not explained by increasing vulnerability.
The width of the tropical belt affects the subtropical dry zones and has expanded since 1980. Analyses of observations and climate–chemistry model simulations suggest that the northern tropical edge retracted between 1945 and 1980.
Progress in seasonal weather prediction outside the tropics has been slow. An analysis of observation-based meteorological data for winter 2013/2014 suggests that the upper-tropospheric components of weather systems could be useful for prediction.
The last glacial period was characterized by a series of abrupt climate changes. An analysis of bottom water chemistry in the South Atlantic suggests that the southern extent of North Atlantic Deep Water was reduced during abrupt coolings.
The last deglaciation was interrupted by a cool period known as the Younger Dryas. Numerical simulations suggest that the cold interval was the result of a combination of changes in ocean and atmospheric circulation and reduced radiative forcing.
The Tohoku earthquake ruptured a fault that also generates slow slip events. Laboratory experiments on rock samples from the fault show that this spectrum of slip behaviours is a natural consequence of shearing at slow plate-convergence rates.
Faults weaken during earthquakes. Analysis of the amount of energy released during earthquakes globally suggests that heat-induced pressurization of pore fluids can weaken faults during earthquakes of all sizes.
Following large explosive volcanic eruptions, precipitation decreases over much of the globe. An analysis of streamflow records from fifty large rivers reveals statistically significant flow reductions in some regions, but increases in others.
Some of the energy from photosynthesis is used in production of biomass. An analysis of plant productivity measurements reveals that site management is the main factor controlling how efficiently plants produce biomass, not fertility.