Dividing the shelves - p309

doi:10.1038/ngeo519

The necessity of establishing boundaries between nationally and internationally administered areas of the sea floor has long been recognized. The UN-approved demarcation line must be scientifically inevitable to gain practical importance.

Full Text - Dividing the shelves | PDF (81 KB) - Dividing the shelves

See also: Commentary by Proelss

Governing the Arctic Ocean - pp310 - 313

Alexander Proelss

doi:10.1038/ngeo510

In the 2008 Ilulissat Declaration, the five central Arctic states committed themselves to an orderly settlement of any overlapping claims in the Arctic. Nevertheless, the situation in the high north remains a crucial test for the functionality of the law of the sea.

Full Text - Governing the Arctic Ocean | PDF (327 KB) - Governing the Arctic Ocean

See also: Editorial by

Our choice from the recent literature - p314

doi:10.1038/ngeo516

Full Text - Our choice from the recent literature | PDF (145 KB) - Our choice from the recent literature

Climate science: Insight despite imperfection - pp315 - 316

Mat Collins

doi:10.1038/ngeo511

Climate model simulations do not perfectly match observations of Arctic sea-ice decline. Nevertheless, by combining models, observations and physical reasoning, it can be predicted that September sea ice is likely to vanish before the end of the twenty-first century.

Full Text - Climate scienceInsight despite imperfection | PDF (284 KB) - Climate scienceInsight despite imperfection

See also: Letter by Boé et al.

Biogeochemistry: Meddling with metals - p316

Ninad Bondre

doi:10.1038/ngeo515

Full Text - BiogeochemistryMeddling with metals | PDF (157 KB) - BiogeochemistryMeddling with metals

Ocean chemistry: A matter of mineralogy - pp317 - 318

Emilie Journet

doi:10.1038/ngeo512

Iron can stimulate productivity in many regions of the world ocean, but only if it exists in a readily dissolvable form. Chemical analyses of typical aerosol particles show that the mineralogy of iron-containing particles largely determines their solubility.

Full Text - Ocean chemistryA matter of mineralogy | PDF (234 KB) - Ocean chemistryA matter of mineralogy

Subject Categories: Atmospheric science | Oceanography

See also: Letter by Schroth et al.

Carbon cycle: Nitrogen's carbon bonus - pp318 - 319

Ivan A. Janssens & Sebastiaan Luyssaert

doi:10.1038/ngeo505

Atmospheric deposition of nitrogen can, but does not always, speed up the sequestration of carbon in trees and forest soil. This complexity may arise from the spatial variations in each of the three mechanisms by which nitrogen affects carbon storage.

Full Text - Carbon cycleNitrogen's carbon bonus | PDF (275 KB) - Carbon cycleNitrogen's carbon bonus

Subject Category: Biogeochemistry

Biogeochemistry: Rising marshes - p319

Alicia Newton

doi:10.1038/ngeo514

Full Text - BiogeochemistryRising marshes | PDF (172 KB) - BiogeochemistryRising marshes

Magmatic filtering of mantle compositions at mid-ocean-ridge volcanoes - pp321 - 328

Ken H. Rubin, John M. Sinton, John Maclennan & Eric Hellebrand

doi:10.1038/ngeo504

The Earth's mantle constitutes over 80% of the planet's volume and is a key reservoir in global geochemical cycling. An overview of the progress in understanding the generation of mid-ocean-ridge basalt from mantle melt shows that a variety of processes chemically alter mantle signals in the melt generated at depth before its eruption at the sea floor.

Abstract - Magmatic filtering of mantle compositions at mid-ocean-ridge volcanoes | Full Text - Magmatic filtering of mantle compositions at mid-ocean-ridge volcanoes | PDF (506 KB) - Magmatic filtering of mantle compositions at mid-ocean-ridge volcanoes | Supplementary information

Subject Categories: Geochemistry | Volcanology, mineralogy and petrology

Maximum hurricane intensity preceded by increase in lightning frequency - pp329 - 332

Colin Price, Mustafa Asfur & Yoav Yair

doi:10.1038/ngeo477

Hurricane forecasters are quite successful in predicting the pathways of tropical cyclones days in advance, but their intensification is less accurately predicted. An analysis of the evolution of maximum winds and total lightning frequency in 56 hurricanes around the globe reveals that hurricane intensification is often preceded by an increase in lightning frequency about one day before.

First Paragraph - Maximum hurricane intensity preceded by increase in lightning frequency | Full Text - Maximum hurricane intensity preceded by increase in lightning frequency | PDF (620 KB) - Maximum hurricane intensity preceded by increase in lightning frequency | Supplementary information

Subject Category: Atmospheric science

Inadvertent climate modification due to anthropogenic lead - pp333 - 336

Daniel J. Cziczo, Olaf Stetzer, Annette Worringen, Martin Ebert, Stephan Weinbruch, Michael Kamphus, Stephane J. Gallavardin, Joachim Curtius, Stephan Borrmann, Karl D. Froyd, Stephan Mertes, Ottmar Möhler & Ulrike Lohmann

doi:10.1038/ngeo499

Atmospheric particles are thought to initiate the majority of terrestrial precipitation. Field-based measurements of ice-crystal residues, together with controlled environment experiments on artificial clouds, suggest that anthropogenic lead-containing particles are among the most efficient ice-forming substances in the atmosphere.

First Paragraph - Inadvertent climate modification due to anthropogenic lead | Full Text - Inadvertent climate modification due to anthropogenic lead | PDF (723 KB) - Inadvertent climate modification due to anthropogenic lead | Supplementary information

Subject Category: Atmospheric science

See also: related Backstory

Iron solubility driven by speciation in dust sources to the ocean - pp337 - 340

Andrew W. Schroth, John Crusius, Edward R. Sholkovitz & Benjamin C. Bostick

doi:10.1038/ngeo501

Particulate aerosols are thought to be the primary source of iron to the oceans, but the factors determining their solubility, and thus bioavailability, are unclear. X-ray absorption analysis reveals that speciation controls the solubility of iron in three large sources of aerosol iron.

First Paragraph - Iron solubility driven by speciation in dust sources to the ocean | Full Text - Iron solubility driven by speciation in dust sources to the ocean | PDF (1,057 KB) - Iron solubility driven by speciation in dust sources to the ocean | Supplementary information

Subject Categories: Atmospheric science | Biogeochemistry

See also: News and Views by Journet

September sea-ice cover in the Arctic Ocean projected to vanish by 2100 - pp341 - 343

Julien Boé, Alex Hall & Xin Qu

doi:10.1038/ngeo467

Arctic sea-ice cover is changing rapidly. An analysis of 18 state-of-the-art climate models and observed trends in Arctic sea-ice cover over the past three decades indicates that under a scenario of medium future greenhouse-gas emissions, the Arctic Ocean will probably be ice-free in September before the end of the twenty-first century.

First Paragraph - September sea-ice cover in the Arctic Ocean projected to vanish by 2100 | Full Text - September sea-ice cover in the Arctic Ocean projected to vanish by 2100 | PDF (570 KB) - September sea-ice cover in the Arctic Ocean projected to vanish by 2100

Subject Categories: Cryospheric science | Climate science

See also: News and Views by Collins

Survival of mussels in extremely acidic waters on a submarine volcano - pp344 - 348

Verena Tunnicliffe, Kimberley T. A. Davies, David A. Butterfield, Robert W. Embley, Jonathan M. Rose & William W. Chadwick Jr

doi:10.1038/ngeo500

Increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide levels are causing ocean acidification, compromising the ability of some marine organisms to build and maintain support structures. An analysis of mussels from a submarine volcano setting with natural low-pH conditions shows low shell thicknesses and growth rates, but survival over up to four decades.

First Paragraph - Survival of mussels in extremely acidic waters on a submarine volcano | Full Text - Survival of mussels in extremely acidic waters on a submarine volcano | PDF (2,511 KB) - Survival of mussels in extremely acidic waters on a submarine volcano | Supplementary information

Subject Categories: Biogeochemistry | Climate science

See also: related Backstory

Metabolic variability in seafloor brines revealed by carbon and sulphur dynamics - pp349 - 354

Samantha B. Joye, Vladimir A. Samarkin, Beth! N. Orcutt, Ian R. MacDonald, Kai-Uwe Hinrichs, Marcus Elvert, Andreas P. Teske, Karen G. Lloyd, Mark A. Lever, Joseph P. Montoya & Christof D. Meile

doi:10.1038/ngeo475

Brine fluids supply the sea floor with energy-rich substrates. Geochemical and genetic analyses indicate that the associated microbial communities—and their dominant metabolisms—vary between seep sites with different supplies of sulphate and organic matter.

First Paragraph - Metabolic variability in seafloor brines revealed by carbon and sulphur dynamics | Full Text - Metabolic variability in seafloor brines revealed by carbon and sulphur dynamics | PDF (1,134 KB) - Metabolic variability in seafloor brines revealed by carbon and sulphur dynamics | Supplementary information

Subject Categories: Oceanography | Biogeochemistry

Phasing and amplitude of sea-level and climate change during the penultimate interglacial - pp355 - 359

Andrea Dutton, Edouard Bard, Fabrizio Antonioli, Tezer M. Esat, Kurt Lambeck & Malcolm T. McCulloch

doi:10.1038/ngeo470

The penultimate interglacial period was punctuated by three sea-level highstands. Uranium–thorium ages obtained from speleothems in Italian caves show that the relationship between the timing of the peaks in sea level and Northern Hemisphere insolation is dependent on the previous extent of continental ice sheets.

First Paragraph - Phasing and amplitude of sea-level and climate change during the penultimate interglacial | Full Text - Phasing and amplitude of sea-level and climate change during the penultimate interglacial | PDF (1,369 KB) - Phasing and amplitude of sea-level and climate change during the penultimate interglacial | Supplementary information

Subject Category: Palaeoclimate and palaeoceanography

See also: related Backstory

Intense localized rock uplift and erosion in the St Elias orogen of Alaska - pp360 - 363

E. Enkelmann, P. K. Zeitler, T. L. Pavlis, J. I. Garver & K. D. Ridgway

doi:10.1038/ngeo502

The St Elias orogen in Alaska is one of the world's highest coastal mountain ranges. An age analysis of detrital material in active sediment systems in the inaccessible ice-covered valley bottoms reveals localized exhumation that is driven by coupling between erosion and active tectonic rock uplift.

First Paragraph - Intense localized rock uplift and erosion in the St Elias orogen of Alaska | Full Text - Intense localized rock uplift and erosion in the St Elias orogen of Alaska | PDF (1,367 KB) - Intense localized rock uplift and erosion in the St Elias orogen of Alaska | Supplementary information

Subject Categories: Geomorphology | Structural geology, tectonics and geodynamics

Eocene Tibetan plateau remnants preserved in the northwest Himalaya - pp364 - 368

Peter van der Beek, Jérémie Van Melle, Stéphane Guillot, Arnaud Pêcher, Peter W. Reiners, Stefan Nicolescu & Mohammad Latif

doi:10.1038/ngeo503

In the northwest Himalaya deeply incised mountain ranges contrast with high-elevation, low-relief areas such as the Deosai plateau in northern Pakistan. Thermochronology data from the Deosai plateau, together with thermal history modelling, suggest that this plateau, along with other morphologically similar surfaces, is a remnant of an Eocene southwestern Tibetan plateau.

First Paragraph - Eocene Tibetan plateau remnants preserved in the northwest Himalaya | Full Text - Eocene Tibetan plateau remnants preserved in the northwest Himalaya | PDF (3,440 KB) - Eocene Tibetan plateau remnants preserved in the northwest Himalaya | Supplementary information

Subject Category: Structural geology, tectonics and geodynamics

Tales of collapse - p320

Alicia Newton

doi:10.1038/ngeo506

Full Text - Tales of collapse | PDF (90 KB) - Tales of collapse

Ring of fire - p370

doi:10.1038/ngeo509

Verena Tunnicliffe, Robert W. Embley and their colleagues sank their remotely operated vehicle into a boiling pool of molten sulphur in their vigour to sample the deep ocean floor.

Full Text - Ring of fire | PDF (243 KB) - Ring of fire

See also: Letter by Tunnicliffe et al.

Up in the clouds - pE7

doi:10.1038/ngeo507

Daniel Cziczo and colleagues experimented with electronics at over 3,000-m altitude to reduce the uncertainty in aerosol–cloud interactions.

Full Text - Up in the clouds | PDF (125 KB) - Up in the clouds

See also: Letter by Cziczo et al.

Underwater treasures - pE8

doi:10.1038/ngeo508

Fabrizio Antonioli, Andrea Dutton and their colleagues prised a stalagmite out of an underwater cave to learn about sea levels during the penultimate interglacial period.

Full Text - Underwater treasures | PDF (155 KB) - Underwater treasures

See also: Letter by Dutton et al.