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The global transport and fate of semivolatile aromatic hydrocarbons and their relevance for the carbon cycle are poorly quantified. Global measurements in paired atmospheric and ocean samples suggest that airsea fluxes are substantial. The image shows research vessel Hespérides during the Malaspina 2010 expedition.
Billions of years ago, high atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations were vital to life's tenuous foothold on Earth. Despite new constraints, the composition and evolution of Earth's early atmosphere remains hazy.
The New Horizons mission has revealed Pluto and its moon Charon to be geologically active worlds. The familiar, yet exotic, landforms suggest that geologic processes operate similarly across the Solar System, even in its cold outer reaches.
Frequent storms on the young Sun would have ejected energetic particles and compressed Earth's magnetosphere. Simulations suggest that the particles penetrated the atmosphere and initiated reactions that warmed the planet and fertilized life.
Liquid water on Mars may be an agent of surface change, but it is unstable under the thin atmosphere. Experiments suggest water percolating though Martian hillslopes ejects sediment as it boils under the low pressure, and modifies the landscape.
Semivolatile organic compounds from fossil fuels or incomplete combustion are ubiquitous. A suite of circumglobal measurements of their oceanic and atmospheric concentrations reveals large carbon fluxes through the deposition of these compounds.
Atmospheric oxygen levels increased in two stages. This two-step rise of oxygen may be a natural consequence of lowered oxidative capacity caused by the emergence of felsic continents and the growth of a continental carbon reservoir.
Liquid water on the Martian surface is expected to be metastable owing to low atmospheric pressure. Experiments at Martian conditions reveal that water and briny flows induce grain saltation and slope destabilization, with geomorphic consequences.
The high relief on Jupiter’s moon Io has been linked to compression due to global subsidence. Simulations show that Io’s mountains may form along thrust faults that initiate at the lithosphere’s base where the compressive stresses are highest.
Airborne organic particles affect Earth’s climate. Imaging of particles after rain events and experimental irrigation shows that water drop impaction of soils generates solid organic particles, with impacts on clouds and radiation absorption.
The global transport and fate of semivolatile aromatic hydrocarbons and their relevance for the carbon cycle are poorly quantified. Global measurements in paired atmospheric and ocean samples suggest that their contribution is substantial.
Dissolved oxygen in the mid-depth tropical Pacific Ocean has declined. Simulations with a combination of atmosphere and ocean models suggest that anthropogenic pollution can interact and amplify climate-driven impacts on ocean biogeochemistry.
The composition of the Earth’s early atmosphere is uncertain. The morphology of vesicles in basalts suggests that the air pressure 2.7 billion years ago was less than half of modern levels.
An energetic process is needed to convert N2 into compounds essential for life. Simulations show that interactions between powerful solar flares and Earth’s magnetic field could have facilitated nitrogen fixation in the early atmosphere.
Mantle flow causes Earth’s surface to uplift and subside. Global analysis of dynamically generated topography suggests that temperature-induced, small-scale mantle flow has a bigger influence on surface topography than large-scale mantle flow.
The configurations of the ancient supercontinents are poorly known. Analysis of the ages of giant magma intrusions that affected both Siberia and Laurentia shows that the two continents were connected, possibly for as long as 1.2 billion years.