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The timing and style of magmatism and extension during the final stages of continental breakup are uncertain. Analysis of ongoing rifting processes in Ethiopia reveals that after a protracted period of extension by magma intrusion, late-stage breakup is characterized by a final phase of plate stretching and voluminous basalt extrusion. The image shows a basaltic eruption from Erta Ale volcano located in the Danakil Depression, Ethiopia.
The deaths of birds have become a rallying point against the proliferation of wind farms. Yet the loss of human life in mines is rarely linked with coal as an energy source.
Crops are at risk in a changing climate. Farmers in the developing world will be able to insure against harvest failure if robust insurance packages, based on a geophysical index rather than individual loss, become widely available.
An observed hemispheric structure in the Earth's inner core has been hard to reconcile with evidence that it rotates faster than the mantle. Detection of a shift of the hemisphere boundary that occurred over geological timescales removes the contradiction.
Motion along faults can occur in sudden earthquakes or through steady, aseismic creep. Rock samples retrieved by drilling deep into a creeping section of the San Andreas Fault show that clay minerals in fault rock promote creep behaviour.
Chondritic meteorites are remnants of the ancient Solar System. Analysis of the dust rims often found on their constituent particles shows that the rims were swept up while the particles wafted about and collided in a weakly turbulent protoplanetary nebula.
How the chemical composition of sea water changes on its journey through the world's oceans is poorly understood. Systematic measurements of dissolved trace metals across the Pacific Ocean suggest that these metals may help track sources and mixing of water masses.
Seasonal and interannual variations of the equatorial cold tongue are defining features of the tropical Atlantic Ocean. An analysis of bias-corrected observations suggests that cold-tongue variability has weakened over the past six decades.
Trace elements and their isotopes have been explored as tracers for the movement of water masses. Measurements of the high-field-strength elements Zr, Hf, Nb and Ta along two meridional sections of the Pacific Ocean suggest higher ratios of Zr/Hf and Nb/Ta than expected, suggesting that these ratios will be useful for tracking water masses.
Sedimentary rocks reflect past tectonic and climatic events. Numerical simulations suggest that changes in precipitation and in the rate of tectonic uplift affect the grain size and the distribution of sediments deposited downstream.
The hydrological balance of the Black Sea is governed by riverine input and by the exchange with the Mediterranean Sea. A speleothem record from a cave in northern Turkey that tracks the isotopic signature of Black Sea surface water suggests an open connection to the Mediterranean Sea in at least twelve periods in the past 670,000 years.
Microstructures from the 3.5-billion-year-old Apex Chert have been interpreted as the remains of ancient cyanobacteria. Geochemical analyses suggest similar structures at the same location are instead haematite-filled fractures, although carbonaceous material in the surrounding matrix is consistent with the presence of microbes at this time.
Rock fabrics record the formation, compaction and deformation history of that rock. High-resolution mapping of tiny grains in the Allende CV meteorite reveals preservation of a spherical fabric that may have formed in the solar nebula, and could be the oldest rock fabric to have formed in the Solar System.
The timing and style of magmatism and extension during the final stages of continental breakup are uncertain. Analysis of ongoing rifting processes in Ethiopia reveals that after a protracted period of extension by magma intrusion, late-stage breakup is characterized by a final phase of plate stretching and voluminous basalt extrusion.
The San Andreas Fault is weak compared with the surrounding rock, but the cause of weakness is debated. Measurements of the strength of rocks taken from the active fault indicate that the San Andreas Fault is inherently weak and does not heal after rupture, causing it to slip aseismically in central California.
The 2010 Haiti earthquake was initially thought to have ruptured the Enriquillo–Plantain Garden fault, but previously unrecognized faults were later implicated. Radar imaging of surface deformation caused by the earthquake reveals uplift of alluvial fans and subsidence of mountains, consistent with reverse motion on a blind thrust fault.
Volcanism at mid-ocean ridges is usually effusive, but some explosive eruptions have been documented. Measurement of the carbon dioxide content of lavas erupted at the Juan de Fuca Ridge, Pacific Ocean, indicate that elevated concentrations of carbon dioxide in the upper oceanic mantle could drive these explosive eruptions.
Earth’s solid inner core is separated into two distinct hemispheres and is thought to rotate faster than the Earth. An analysis of seismic travel time data allows quantification of the displacement of the hemisphere boundary with time, and results in an estimated super-rotation several orders of magnitude smaller than previously reported.