Focus: Sea Level

Adjustable adaptation - p447

doi:10.1038/ngeo576

Humans have been responding to fluctuating sea levels for millennia. Adapting to future change will require a swift start on developing innovative infrastructure while keeping the option to adjust in the long term.

Full Text - Adjustable adaptation | PDF (303 KB) - Adjustable adaptation

Cyclone Nargis storm surge in Myanmar - pp448 - 449

Hermann M. Fritz, Christopher D. Blount, Swe Thwin, Moe Kyaw Thu & Nyein Chan

doi:10.1038/ngeo558

Full Text - Cyclone Nargis storm surge in Myanmar | PDF (176 KB) - Cyclone Nargis storm surge in Myanmar | Supplementary information

See also: related Backstory

Focus: Sea Level

Dutch coasts in transition - pp450 - 452

Pavel Kabat, Louise O. Fresco, Marcel J. F. Stive, Cees P. Veerman, Jos S. L. J. van Alphen, Bart W. A. H. Parmet, Wilco Hazeleger & Caroline A. Katsman

doi:10.1038/ngeo572

The Netherlands has a long and varied history of coastal and river flood management. The anticipation of sea-level rise during the twenty-first century has renewed the push for sustainable solutions to coastal vulnerability.

Full Text - Dutch coasts in transition | PDF (697 KB) - Dutch coasts in transition

Focus: Sea Level

Land waters and sea level - pp452 - 454

Dennis P. Lettenmaier & P. C. D. Milly

doi:10.1038/ngeo567

Changes in continental water stores, largely human-induced, affect sea level. Better hydrological models and observations could clarify the land's role in sea-level variations.

Full Text - Land waters and sea level | PDF (279 KB) - Land waters and sea level

Focus: Sea Level

Relocating Odysseus' homeland - pp455 - 458

John R. Underhill

doi:10.1038/ngeo562

Homer's Ithaca had been viewed as a work of poetic licence and imprecise geography. However, as recent research shows the island's form may have been disguised over the past two millennia by catastrophic rockfalls, co-seismic uplift events and relative sea-level change.

Full Text - Relocating Odysseus' homeland | PDF (491 KB) - Relocating Odysseus' homeland

Focus: Sea Level

Living on the edge - p459

Robert Nicholls reviews The Rising Sea by Orrin H. Pilkey & Rob Young

doi:10.1038/ngeo571

Full Text - Living on the edge | PDF (101 KB) - Living on the edge

Our choice from the recent literature - p460

doi:10.1038/ngeo575

Full Text - Our choice from the recent literature | PDF (149 KB) - Our choice from the recent literature

Atmospheric science: Underestimating ammonia - pp461 - 462

La Toya Myles

doi:10.1038/ngeo565

Ammonia is a significant atmospheric pollutant whose global distribution is poorly understood. Satellite measurements highlight ammonia hotspots across the globe and indicate that current inventories may underestimate emissions in the Northern Hemisphere.

Full Text - Atmospheric scienceUnderestimating ammonia | PDF (240 KB) - Atmospheric scienceUnderestimating ammonia

Subject Category: Atmospheric science

See also: Letter by Clarisse et al.

Atmospheric chemistry: Cool mercury - pp462 - 463

Rolf Weller

doi:10.1038/ngeo560

It is unclear whether the modern processes of mercury cycling — such as mercury deposition in polar regions — operated before anthropogenic emissions. Ice-core records from Antarctica now reveal strikingly high mercury concentrations during the coldest glacial periods.

Full Text - Atmospheric chemistryCool mercury | PDF (191 KB) - Atmospheric chemistryCool mercury

Subject Category: Atmospheric science

See also: Letter by Jitaru et al.

Marine geophysics: Where there's smoke there's fire - pp463 - 464

Maya Tolstoy

doi:10.1038/ngeo564

Seafloor vents spewing mineral-rich plumes of hydrothermal fluid — termed black smokers — can persist at mid-ocean ridges for decades or longer. Earthquake data indicate that ongoing magma injection may determine their locations.

Full Text - Marine geophysicsWhere there's smoke there's fire | PDF (294 KB) - Marine geophysicsWhere there's smoke there's fire

Subject Categories: Seismology | Structural geology, tectonics and geodynamics

See also: Letter by Wilcock et al.

Focus: Sea Level

Palaeoceanography: Broken greenhouse windows - pp465 - 466

Kenneth G. Miller

doi:10.1038/ngeo563

Large and rapid global sea-level changes indicate that polar ice sheets may have ephemerally existed during the Cretaceous greenhouse climate. Two oxygen isotopic studies provide evidence for and against this conclusion.

Full Text - PalaeoceanographyBroken greenhouse windows | PDF (200 KB) - PalaeoceanographyBroken greenhouse windows

Subject Category: Palaeoclimate and palaeoceanography

Glaciology: Melt revisions - p466

Alicia Newton

doi:10.1038/ngeo573

Full Text - GlaciologyMelt revisions | PDF (147 KB) - GlaciologyMelt revisions

Subject Category: Cryospheric science

Climate change: Terrestrial ecosystem inertia - pp467 - 468

Gian-Kasper Plattner

doi:10.1038/ngeo570

Some components of the climate system continue to adjust long after atmospheric greenhouse-gas levels have stopped changing. A coupled climate–vegetation model shows that forests can be committed to die-back or expansion before change is observed.

Full Text - Climate changeTerrestrial ecosystem inertia | PDF (116 KB) - Climate changeTerrestrial ecosystem inertia

Subject Category: Ecology

See also: Letter by Jones et al.

Palaeoclimate: Lessons from the past millennium - pp468 - 470

Johann H. Jungclaus

doi:10.1038/ngeo559

Understanding millennial-scale climate variability provides context for present and future climate change. It now emerges that temperatures were spatially and seasonally more heterogeneous over the past 1,000 years than previously thought.

Full Text - PalaeoclimateLessons from the past millennium | PDF (190 KB) - PalaeoclimateLessons from the past millennium

Subject Category: Palaeoclimate and palaeoceanography

Focus: Sea Level

Identifying the causes of sea-level change - pp471 - 478

Glenn A. Milne, W. Roland Gehrels, Chris W. Hughes & Mark E. Tamisiea

doi:10.1038/ngeo544

Global mean sea-level change has increased from a few centimetres per century over recent millennia to a few tens of centimetres per century in recent decades. A review of the latest work shows that global mean sea-level rise is unlikely to exceed one metre over the twenty-first century, but regional departures from this global mean could reach several decimetres.

Abstract - Identifying the causes of sea-level change | Full Text - Identifying the causes of sea-level change | PDF (442 KB) - Identifying the causes of sea-level change

Subject Categories: Climate science | Oceanography

Global ammonia distribution derived from infrared satellite observations - pp479 - 483

Lieven Clarisse, Cathy Clerbaux, Frank Dentener, Daniel Hurtmans & Pierre-François Coheur

doi:10.1038/ngeo551

Ammonia is a significant atmospheric pollutant, accelerating the formation of particulate matter and damaging aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. Infrared measurements of ammonia concentrations, obtained by the IASI/MetOp satellite, suggest that ammonia emissions in the Northern Hemisphere have been markedly underestimated.

First Paragraph - Global ammonia distribution derived from infrared satellite observations | Full Text - Global ammonia distribution derived from infrared satellite observations | PDF (21,630 KB) - Global ammonia distribution derived from infrared satellite observations | Supplementary information

Subject Category: Atmospheric science

See also: News and Views by Myles

Committed terrestrial ecosystem changes due to climate change - pp484 - 487

Chris Jones, Jason Lowe, Spencer Liddicoat & Richard Betts

doi:10.1038/ngeo555

Some aspects of the Earth system—such as global mean temperatures, and sea-level rise due to thermal expansion or melting of large ice sheets—continue to respond to climate change long after the stabilization of radiative forcing. Simulations with a coupled climate–vegetation model show that similarly ecosystems may be committed to significant change after climate stabilization.

First Paragraph - Committed terrestrial ecosystem changes due to climate change | Full Text - Committed terrestrial ecosystem changes due to climate change | PDF (480 KB) - Committed terrestrial ecosystem changes due to climate change | Supplementary information

Subject Categories: Climate science | Ecology

See also: News and Views by Plattner

Focus: Sea Level

Drowning of the Mississippi Delta due to insufficient sediment supply and global sea-level rise - pp488 - 491

Michael D. Blum & Harry H. Roberts

doi:10.1038/ngeo553

Global sea-level rise, reduced sediment supply and subsidence threaten the stability of the Mississippi Delta. Calculations of riverine sediment load and storage indicate that 10,000–13,500 km² of the delta could be submerged by AD 2100.

First Paragraph - Drowning of the Mississippi Delta due to insufficient sediment supply and global sea-level rise | Full Text - Drowning of the Mississippi Delta due to insufficient sediment supply and global sea-level rise | PDF (897 KB) - Drowning of the Mississippi Delta due to insufficient sediment supply and global sea-level rise | Supplementary information

Subject Categories: Climate science | Geomorphology

Surface-temperature trends and variability in the low-latitude North Atlantic since 1552 - pp492 - 495

Casey Saenger, Anne L. Cohen, Delia W. Oppo, Robert B. Halley & Jessica E. Carilli

doi:10.1038/ngeo552

For the past few centuries, multidecadal climate variability in North Atlantic sea surface temperatures has been modulated by the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO). A coral-based temperature reconstruction reveals that the AMO is a transient climate feature that only became significant after AD 1730.

First Paragraph - Surface-temperature trends and variability in the low-latitude North Atlantic since 1552 | Full Text - Surface-temperature trends and variability in the low-latitude North Atlantic since 1552 | PDF (812 KB) - Surface-temperature trends and variability in the low-latitude North Atlantic since 1552 | Supplementary information

Subject Category: Palaeoclimate and palaeoceanography

Focus: Sea Level

Rapid early Holocene retreat of a Laurentide outlet glacier through an Arctic fjord - pp496 - 499

Jason P. Briner, Aaron C. Bini & Robert S. Anderson

doi:10.1038/ngeo556

Marine-terminating outlet glaciers control the stability of ice sheets. Exposure ages and radiocarbon dates show that an Arctic outlet glacier of the Laurentide ice sheet rapidly retreated about 9,500 years ago, and imply strong feedbacks between bathymetry and ice movement.

First Paragraph - Rapid early Holocene retreat of a Laurentide outlet glacier through an Arctic fjord | Full Text - Rapid early Holocene retreat of a Laurentide outlet glacier through an Arctic fjord | PDF (1,216 KB) - Rapid early Holocene retreat of a Laurentide outlet glacier through an Arctic fjord | Supplementary information

Subject Categories: Cryospheric science | Palaeoclimate and palaeoceanography

Focus: Sea Level

Antarctic temperature and global sea level closely coupled over the past five glacial cycles - pp500 - 504

E. J. Rohling, K. Grant, M. Bolshaw, A. P. Roberts, M. Siddall, Ch. Hemleben & M. Kucera

doi:10.1038/ngeo557

Sea level has varied by over one hundred metres across glacial–interglacial cycles over the past 520,000 years. An extended sea-level reconstruction shows a strong coupling between these sea-level changes and Antarctic surface temperatures over the past five glacial cycles.

First Paragraph - Antarctic temperature and global sea level closely coupled over the past five glacial cycles | Full Text - Antarctic temperature and global sea level closely coupled over the past five glacial cycles | PDF (4,921 KB) - Antarctic temperature and global sea level closely coupled over the past five glacial cycles | Supplementary information

Subject Category: Palaeoclimate and palaeoceanography

Atmospheric depletion of mercury over Antarctica during glacial periods - pp505 - 508

Petru Jitaru, Paolo Gabrielli, Alexandrine Marteel, John M. C. Plane, Fréderic A. M. Planchon, Pierre-Alexis Gauchard, Christophe P. Ferrari, Claude F. Boutron, Freddy C. Adams, Sungmin Hong, Paolo Cescon & Carlo Barbante

doi:10.1038/ngeo549

Over the past two decades, seasonal periods of rapid atmospheric mercury deposition over Antarctica have been described. Ice core records show that similar events have occurred during previous glacial periods, probably as a result of interactions between sea salts and mineral dust in the polar atmosphere.

First Paragraph - Atmospheric depletion of mercury over Antarctica during glacial periods | Full Text - Atmospheric depletion of mercury over Antarctica during glacial periods | PDF (686 KB) - Atmospheric depletion of mercury over Antarctica during glacial periods | Supplementary information

Subject Categories: Atmospheric science | Biogeochemistry | Palaeoclimate and palaeoceanography

See also: related Backstory | News and Views by Weller

The role of magma injection in localizing black-smoker activity - pp509 - 513

William S. D. Wilcock, Emilie E. E. Hooft, Douglas R. Toomey, Paul R. McGill, Andrew H. Barclay, Debra S. Stakes & Tony M. Ramirez

doi:10.1038/ngeo550

The mechanisms for localization of black-smoker systems at mid-ocean ridges remain to be fully understood. Seismic data for a segment of the Juan de Fuca ridge with long-lived black-smoker vents reveal ongoing magma recharge into the crustal magma chamber, thereby providing an explanation for the localization.

First Paragraph - The role of magma injection in localizing black-smoker activity | Full Text - The role of magma injection in localizing black-smoker activity | PDF (22,121 KB) - The role of magma injection in localizing black-smoker activity | Supplementary information

Subject Categories: Oceanography | Seismology | Structural geology, tectonics and geodynamics

See also: related Backstory | News and Views by Tolstoy

Iron isotope fractionation in the Earth's lower mantle - pp514 - 518

James R. Rustad & Qing-Zhu Yin

doi:10.1038/ngeo546

The two main iron-bearing silicate phases in the mantle—ferroperovskite and ferropericlase—are expected to partition iron isotopes differently. Theoretical calculations suggest that the spin state of iron strongly influences the iron isotopic composition of ferropericlase, whereas the iron isotopic composition of ferroperovskite is almost independent of spin state.

First Paragraph - Iron isotope fractionation in the Earth/'s lower mantle | Full Text - Iron isotope fractionation in the Earth's lower mantle | PDF (1,776 KB) - Iron isotope fractionation in the Earth's lower mantle

Subject Categories: Geochemistry | Structural geology, tectonics and geodynamics | Volcanology, mineralogy and petrology

Southward movement of the Pacific intertropical convergence zone AD 1400–1850 - pp519 - 525

Julian P. Sachs, Dirk Sachse, Rienk H. Smittenberg, Zhaohui Zhang, David S. Battisti & Stjepko Golubic

doi:10.1038/ngeo554

Seasonal changes in tropical rainfall patterns are associated with changes in the position of the intertropical convergence zone. Microbiological, molecular and hydrogen isotopic evidence from island lake sediments shows that the Pacific intertropical convergence zone was south of its modern position by as much as 500 km during the Little Ice Age.

Abstract - Southward movement of the Pacific intertropical convergence zone : AD: [thinsp]1400-1850 | Full Text - Southward movement of the Pacific intertropical convergence zone AD 1400–1850 | PDF (1,673 KB) - Southward movement of the Pacific intertropical convergence zone AD 1400–1850 | Supplementary information

Subject Categories: Climate science | Palaeoclimate and palaeoceanography

Insight despite imperfection - p470

Mat Collins

doi:10.1038/ngeo561

Full Text - Insight despite imperfection | PDF (92 KB) - Insight despite imperfection

After the storm - p528

doi:10.1038/ngeo568

Hermann M. Fritz and colleagues travelled by cargo boat through the Ayeyarwady delta in Myanmar to document the damage after cyclone Nargis.

Full Text - After the storm | PDF (228 KB) - After the storm

See also: Correspondence by Fritz et al.

Sensing the sea bed - pE11

doi:10.1038/ngeo566

William Wilcock and a team of scientists and engineers drilled holes in the sea floor, and inadvertently provided a breeding ground for octopuses, in their attempt to understand deep-ocean hydrothermal venting.

Full Text - Sensing the sea bed | PDF (170 KB) - Sensing the sea bed

See also: Letter by Wilcock et al.

Mopping up mercury - pE12

doi:10.1038/ngeo569

Paolo Gabrielli and colleagues dug deeply — and extremely cautiously — into Antarctic ice, to see whether the poles acted as a sink for mercury in the geological past.

Full Text - Mopping up mercury | PDF (150 KB) - Mopping up mercury

See also: Letter by Jitaru et al.