Means and ends - p529

doi:10.1038/ngeo599

Palaeoclimate research increasingly portrays itself as a means to understanding future climate change. It would serve the science and scientists better to regard the study of the past as an end in its own right.

Full Text - Means and ends | PDF (80 KB) - Means and ends

On track for citations - p529

doi:10.1038/ngeo606

Nature Geoscience has entered Thomson Reuters's Journal Citation Report, but so far only the 'immediacy index' has been calculated.

Full Text - On track for citations | PDF (80 KB) - On track for citations

Pre-eruptive uplift in the Emeishan? - pp530 - 531

Bin He, Yigang Xu & Ian Campbell

doi:10.1038/ngeo594

Full Text - Pre-eruptive uplift in the Emeishan? | PDF (198 KB) - Pre-eruptive uplift in the Emeishan?

Pre-eruptive uplift in the Emeishan? - pp531 - 532

Ingrid Ukstins Peate & Scott Edward Bryan

doi:10.1038/ngeo600

Full Text - Pre-eruptive uplift in the Emeishan? | PDF (109 KB) - Pre-eruptive uplift in the Emeishan?

A black-carbon mitigation wedge - pp533 - 534

Andrew P. Grieshop, Conor C. O. Reynolds, Milind Kandlikar & Hadi Dowlatabadi

doi:10.1038/ngeo595

Comprehensive abatement strategies will be needed to limit global warming. A drastic reduction of black-carbon emissions could provide near-immediate relief with important co-benefits.

Full Text - A black-carbon mitigation wedge | PDF (101 KB) - A black-carbon mitigation wedge

Acts of God? - p535

Alan Cutler reviews Geology and Religion: A History of Harmony and Hostility by M. Kölbl-Ebert

doi:10.1038/ngeo585

Full Text - Acts of God? | PDF (104 KB) - Acts of God?

Our choice from the recent literature - p536

doi:10.1038/ngeo596

Full Text - Our choice from the recent literature | PDF (183 KB) - Our choice from the recent literature

Palaeoclimate: Enigmatic Earth - pp537 - 538

David J. Beerling

doi:10.1038/ngeo582

Global warming 55 million years ago was accompanied by a massive injection of carbon into the ocean-atmosphere system, but the resulting climatic warming was much greater than expected from the modelled rise in atmospheric carbon dioxide alone.

Full Text - PalaeoclimateEnigmatic Earth | PDF (170 KB) - PalaeoclimateEnigmatic Earth

Subject Category: Palaeoclimate and palaeoceanography

See also: Letter by Zeebe et al.

Biogeochemistry: Sparking an unusual nutrient - pp538 - 539

Alan W. Schwartz

doi:10.1038/ngeo584

Modern terrestrial microbes have shown a puzzling ability to use reduced forms of phosphorus not commonly found on Earth. An examination of glasses formed in the ground by lightning suggests that lightning strikes can generate these phosphorus species.

Full Text - BiogeochemistrySparking an unusual nutrient | PDF (133 KB) - BiogeochemistrySparking an unusual nutrient

Subject Category: Biogeochemistry

See also: Letter by Pasek & Block

Volcanism: Eruptions and extinctions - pp539 - 540

Nicholas Christie-Blick

doi:10.1038/ngeo598

Fossils from southern China provide evidence for a mass extinction during middle Permian time, 260 million years ago. The close association of this event with an outpouring of lava, initially into the sea, indicates that explosive volcanism may have been the cause.

Full Text - VolcanismEruptions and extinctions | PDF (822 KB) - VolcanismEruptions and extinctions

Subject Category: Volcanology, mineralogy and petrology

Tectonics: Pulling plates apart - pp541 - 542

Joann M. Stock

doi:10.1038/ngeo597

The Salton Sea is located in a sedimentary basin at the southern termination of the San Andreas fault. High-resolution seismic data indicate that the basin formed and grew by active subsidence at its southern end.

Full Text - TectonicsPulling plates apart | PDF (329 KB) - TectonicsPulling plates apart

Subject Category: Structural geology, tectonics and geodynamics

See also: Letter by Brothers et al.

Cartography: Terra cognita - p542

Heike Langenberg

doi:10.1038/ngeo603

Full Text - CartographyTerra cognita | PDF (179 KB) - CartographyTerra cognita

Insights into deep carbon derived from noble gases - pp543 - 547

B. Sherwood Lollar & C. J. Ballentine

doi:10.1038/ngeo588

Science and society are faced with two challenges that are inextricably linked: fossil-fuel energy dependence and rising levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide. Coupling of noble gas and carbon chemistry provides an innovative approach to understanding the deep terrestrial carbon cycle.

Abstract - Insights into deep carbon derived from noble gases | Full Text - Insights into deep carbon derived from noble gases | PDF (166 KB) - Insights into deep carbon derived from noble gases

Early martian mantle overturn inferred from isotopic composition of nakhlite meteorites - pp548 - 552

V. Debaille, A. D. Brandon, C. O'Neill, Q.-Z. Yin & B. Jacobsen

doi:10.1038/ngeo579

Following the crystallization of a magma ocean, the martian mantle probably underwent an overturning event, but its initiation, timing and geochemical consequences are poorly constrained. Isotopic data for martian meteorites and numerical simulations provide strong evidence for early overturning in the martian mantle.

First Paragraph - Early martian mantle overturn inferred from isotopic composition of nakhlite meteorites | Full Text - Early martian mantle overturn inferred from isotopic composition of nakhlite meteorites | PDF (957 KB) - Early martian mantle overturn inferred from isotopic composition of nakhlite meteorites | Supplementary information

Lightning-induced reduction of phosphorus oxidation state - pp553 - 556

Matthew Pasek & Kristin Block

doi:10.1038/ngeo580

Phosphorus is frequently the limiting nutrient in marine and terrestrial ecosystems. Analysis of lightning-derived glassy compounds from North America, Africa and Australia suggests that cloud-to-ground lightning increases the bioavailability of this nutrient.

First Paragraph - Lightning-induced reduction of phosphorus oxidation state | Full Text - Lightning-induced reduction of phosphorus oxidation state | PDF (861 KB) - Lightning-induced reduction of phosphorus oxidation state | Supplementary information

Asian dust transported one full circuit around the globe - pp557 - 560

Itsushi Uno, Kenta Eguchi, Keiya Yumimoto, Toshihiko Takemura, Atsushi Shimizu, Mitsuo Uematsu, Zhaoyan Liu, Zifa Wang, Yukari Hara & Nobuo Sugimoto

doi:10.1038/ngeo583

Mineral dust can be transported long distances in the lower atmosphere. Satellite measurements and model simulations show that dust generated during a storm in the Taklimakan Desert, China, in 2007 was transported more than once around the globe.

First Paragraph - Asian dust transported one full circuit around the globe | Full Text - Asian dust transported one full circuit around the globe | PDF (1,885 KB) - Asian dust transported one full circuit around the globe | Supplementary information

Considerable methane fluxes to the atmosphere from hydrocarbon seeps in the Gulf of Mexico - pp561 - 565

Evan A. Solomon, Miriam Kastner, Ian R. MacDonald & Ira Leifer

doi:10.1038/ngeo574

The flux of methane—a greenhouse gas—from submarine hydrocarbon seeps to the atmosphere is not well quantified. Direct measurements of methane concentrations and isotopic depth profiles in deepwater hydrocarbon plumes indicate that a significant amount of methane from deep-ocean sources could reach the surface ocean.

First Paragraph - Considerable methane fluxes to the atmosphere from hydrocarbon seeps in the Gulf of Mexico | Full Text - Considerable methane fluxes to the atmosphere from hydrocarbon seeps in the Gulf of Mexico | PDF (786 KB) - Considerable methane fluxes to the atmosphere from hydrocarbon seeps in the Gulf of Mexico | Supplementary information

Methane-derived hydrocarbons produced under upper-mantle conditions - pp566 - 570

Anton Kolesnikov, Vladimir G. Kutcherov & Alexander F. Goncharov

doi:10.1038/ngeo591

It has been proposed that hydrocarbons could be produced abiogenically under the high pressure, high temperature conditions characteristic of the upper mantle. In situ Raman spectroscopy indicates that methane forms saturated hydrocarbons, containing two to four carbons, when exposed to upper-mantle conditions.

First Paragraph - Methane-derived hydrocarbons produced under upper-mantle conditions | Full Text - Methane-derived hydrocarbons produced under upper-mantle conditions | PDF (681 KB) - Methane-derived hydrocarbons produced under upper-mantle conditions | Supplementary information

Constraints on future sea-level rise from past sea-level change - pp571 - 575

Mark Siddall, Thomas F. Stocker & Peter U. Clark

doi:10.1038/ngeo587

Sea level fluctuated substantially over the past 22,000 years. A simple model based on these fluctuations estimates between 7 and 86 cm of sea-level rise by the end of the twenty-first century—in agreement with climate model projections.

First Paragraph - Constraints on future sea-level rise from past sea-level change | Full Text - Constraints on future sea-level rise from past sea-level change | PDF (666 KB) - Constraints on future sea-level rise from past sea-level change | Supplementary information

Carbon dioxide forcing alone insufficient to explain Palaeocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum warming - pp576 - 580

Richard E. Zeebe, James C. Zachos & Gerald R. Dickens

doi:10.1038/ngeo578

About 55 million years ago global surface temperatures increased by 5–9 ^°C within a few thousand years, following a pulse of carbon released to the atmosphere. Analysis of existing data with a carbon cycle model indicates that this carbon pulse was too small to cause the full amount of warming at accepted values for climate sensitivity.

First Paragraph - Carbon dioxide forcing alone insufficient to explain Palaeocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum warming | Full Text - Carbon dioxide forcing alone insufficient to explain Palaeocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum warming | PDF (711 KB) - Carbon dioxide forcing alone insufficient to explain Palaeocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum warming | Supplementary information

Tectonic evolution of the Salton Sea inferred from seismic reflection data - pp581 - 584

D. S. Brothers, N. W. Driscoll, G. M. Kent, A. J. Harding, J. M. Babcock & R. L. Baskin

doi:10.1038/ngeo590

The Salton Sea is an evolving pull-apart basin located between the San Andreas and Imperial faults in Southern California. Seismic and geological data reveal a rapidly subsiding southern sub-basin that is bounded by a hinge zone to the north, and northwest-dipping normal faults to the south.

First Paragraph - Tectonic evolution of the Salton Sea inferred from seismic reflection data | Full Text - Tectonic evolution of the Salton Sea inferred from seismic reflection data | PDF (8,934 KB) - Tectonic evolution of the Salton Sea inferred from seismic reflection data | Supplementary information

Formation of mega-scale glacial lineations observed beneath a West Antarctic ice stream - pp585 - 588

E. C. King, R. C. A. Hindmarsh & C. R. Stokes

doi:10.1038/ngeo581

Most discharge from large ice sheets takes place through fast-flowing ice streams. A combination of radar and seismic data reveal megascale glacial lineations at the bed of a West Antarctic ice stream that undergo significant change by erosion and deposition on decadal timescales.

Abstract - Formation of mega-scale glacial lineations observed beneath a West Antarctic ice stream | Full Text - Formation of mega-scale glacial lineations observed beneath a West Antarctic ice stream | PDF (837 KB) - Formation of mega-scale glacial lineations observed beneath a West Antarctic ice stream

See also: related Backstory

Floral changes across the Triassic/Jurassic boundary linked to flood basalt volcanism - pp589 - 594

B. van de Schootbrugge, T. M. Quan, S. Lindström, W. Püttmann, C. Heunisch, J. Pross, J. Fiebig, R. Petschick, H.-G. Röhling, S. Richoz, Y. Rosenthal & P. G. Falkowski

doi:10.1038/ngeo577

The extinction at the Triassic/Jurassic boundary is one of the five largest in Earth's history. Microfossil and organic geochemical analyses link the vegetation turnover in Europe to the release of pollutants and toxic compounds from flood basalt volcanism in the central Atlantic Ocean.

Abstract - Floral changes across the Triassic/Jurassic boundary linked to flood basalt volcanism | Full Text - Floral changes across the Triassic/Jurassic boundary linked to flood basalt volcanism | PDF (2,680 KB) - Floral changes across the Triassic/Jurassic boundary linked to flood basalt volcanism | Supplementary information

Biophysical controls on organic carbon fluxes in fluvial networks - p595

Tom J. Battin, Louis A. Kaplan, Stuart Findlay, Charles S. Hopkinson, Eugenia Marti, Aaron I. Packman, J. Denis Newbold & Francesc Sabater

doi:10.1038/ngeo602

Full Text - Biophysical controls on organic carbon fluxes in fluvial networks | PDF (87 KB) - Biophysical controls on organic carbon fluxes in fluvial networks

Bed of ice - p596

doi:10.1038/ngeo586

Edward King and colleagues towed a radar system over Antarctic ice, and whiled away Christmas in a tent, in their quest to understand glacier sliding.

Full Text - Bed of ice | PDF (136 KB) - Bed of ice

See also: Article by King et al.

Salton surprise - pE13

doi:10.1038/ngeo593

Daniel Brothers and colleagues had a run in with some killer bees while trying to understand tectonic deformation.

Full Text - Salton surprise | PDF (339 KB) - Salton surprise

See also: Letter by Brothers et al.