Featured
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Recent European drought extremes beyond Common Era background variability
European summer droughts in recent years are anomalously severe compared with those of the previous 2,000 years, according to a synthesis of annually resolved tree-ring carbon and oxygen isotope records.
- Ulf Büntgen
- , Otmar Urban
- & Miroslav Trnka
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News & Views |
Intermittent warmth on young Mars
Warm and wet conditions could have episodically punctuated a generally cold early climate on Mars, according to a multidisciplinary modelling approach that potentially solves a five-decade long debate regarding warm conditions on early Mars.
- Nicolas Mangold
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Article |
A coupled model of episodic warming, oxidation and geochemical transitions on early Mars
Mars’s early climate and surface chemistry varied between a generally cold, oxidizing environment and warmer, more reducing conditions, according to a model of atmospheric evolution driven by stochastic, random injection of greenhouse gases.
- Robin Wordsworth
- , Andrew H. Knoll
- & Kathryn Steakley
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Brief Communication |
Current Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation weakest in last millennium
The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) is currently distinctly weaker than it has been for the last millennium, according to a synthesis of proxy records derived from a range of techniques.
- L. Caesar
- , G. D. McCarthy
- & S. Rahmstorf
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Article |
Earth’s long-term climate stabilized by clouds
Reduced planetary albedo due to fewer low clouds on early Earth could explain some 40% of the required forcing to offset the faint young Sun, according to global climate model experiments.
- Colin Goldblatt
- , Victoria L. McDonald
- & Kelly E. McCusker
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Article |
Multi-decadal trends in Antarctic sea-ice extent driven by ENSO–SAM over the last 2,000 years
Common Era sea-ice variability in the Indian sector of the Southern Ocean was strongly influenced by interacting climate modes, according to climate modelling and an analysis of sea-ice and temperature proxies.
- Xavier Crosta
- , Johan Etourneau
- & Minoru Ikehara
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Article |
Abrupt changes in the global carbon cycle during the last glacial period
Southern Hemisphere processes largely set Antarctic climate during the last glacial, though events in the Northern Hemisphere strongly impacted short, centennial-scale changes, according to an analysis of high-resolution carbon dioxide and temperature records from an Antarctic ice core.
- Thomas K. Bauska
- , Shaun A. Marcott
- & Edward J. Brook
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Article |
Drivers of river reactivation in North Africa during the last glacial cycle
The presence of large rivers in North Africa critical for Quaternary human migrations were controlled by a combination of orbital forcing and Mediterranean storminess, according to terrestrial proxy records from a marine core off Libya integrated with paleoclimate modelling.
- Cécile L. Blanchet
- , Anne H. Osborne
- & Martin Frank
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Nonlinear forcing of climate on mountain denudation during glaciations
Constraints on the denudation of the Southern Alps over the last glacial cycle indicate a nonlinear influence of climate on landscape evolution in glaciated areas, according to a beryllium isotope record measured from quartz in a sequence of Mediterranean turbidites.
- Apolline Mariotti
- , Pierre-Henri Blard
- & Karim Keddadouche
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Eleven-year solar cycles over the last millennium revealed by radiocarbon in tree rings
11-year solar cycles consistently occurred throughout the last thousand years, according to a synthesis of annually resolved tree ring radiocarbon records from central Europe.
- Nicolas Brehm
- , Alex Bayliss
- & Lukas Wacker
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Article |
Increased typhoon activity in the Pacific deep tropics driven by Little Ice Age circulation changes
Atmospheric circulation shifts during the Little Ice Age led to greater typhoon generation in the tropical North Pacific according to a comparison of sediment proxy records of past storm activity and outputs of general circulation models.
- James F. Bramante
- , Murray R. Ford
- & Jeffrey P. Donnelly
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Article |
Spatial pattern of super-greenhouse warmth controlled by elevated specific humidity
The reduced Equator-to-pole temperature gradient during the Eocene greenhouse climate was maintained by elevated atmospheric humidity, according to temperature and precipitation isotope estimates from terrestrial siderite clumped isotopes.
- Joep van Dijk
- , Alvaro Fernandez
- & Tim White
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Article |
Permian–Triassic mass extinction pulses driven by major marine carbon cycle perturbations
The end-Permian mass extinction was linked with ocean acidification due to carbon degassing associated with Siberian Trap emplacement, according to boron isotopes from fossil shells and reconstruction of the carbon cycle.
- Hana Jurikova
- , Marcus Gutjahr
- & Anton Eisenhauer
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Editorial |
Up in smoke
Where there is smoke, there are radiative feedbacks. With wildfires becoming a growing problem in the Anthropocene, we need to better understand the influence of fire on the climate system.
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Article |
Marine organic carbon burial increased forest fire frequency during Oceanic Anoxic Event 2
A global carbon cycle perturbation during Oceanic Anoxic Event 2 was probably due to elevated oxygen levels leading to a transient increase in wildfire activity, according to a record of plant biomarkers tracking fire frequency in western North America.
- F. Garrett Boudinot
- & Julio Sepúlveda
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News & Views |
Pacific push into the Atlantic
Deep, carbon-rich Pacific waters intruded into the South Atlantic some 38 to 28 thousand years ago. This deep Pacific expansion could have represented a considerable sink of atmospheric CO2, one that helped initiate the Last Glacial Maximum.
- Brian A. Haley
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Article |
Coupled Southern Ocean cooling and Antarctic ice sheet expansion during the middle Miocene
Antarctic ice volume expansion in the middle Miocene coincides with Southern Ocean cooling, according to biomarker and clumped isotope temperature records from south of Tasmania.
- Thomas J. Leutert
- , Alexandra Auderset
- & A. Nele Meckler
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Article |
A nutrient control on marine anoxia during the end-Permian mass extinction
Phosphorus remobilized from seafloor sediments due to a reduced influx of iron-oxide from land led to widespread anoxia during the end-Permian mass extinction, according to palaeoredox and phosphorus speciation proxy records from Svalbard.
- Martin Schobben
- , William J. Foster
- & Simon W. Poulton
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Correspondence |
One hundred years of Milanković cycles
- Ivana Cvijanovic
- , Jelena Lukovic
- & James D. Begg
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Article |
Late Cenozoic climate change paces landscape adjustments to Yukon River capture
Increased river incision and landscape erosion can be attributed to late Cenozoic cooling/changes in hydroclimate, according to cosmogenic isotope and luminescence ages of a sequence of bedrock terraces in the Yukon River basin.
- Adrian M. Bender
- , Richard O. Lease
- & Tammy M. Rittenour
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Article |
Last glacial atmospheric CO2 decline due to widespread Pacific deep-water expansion
Carbon-rich Pacific deep water extended into the South Atlantic some 38,000 to 28,000 years ago, potentially contributing to a reduction in atmospheric carbon dioxide and the onset of the Last Glacial Maximum, according to deep-water carbonate chemistry reconstructions.
- J. Yu
- , L. Menviel
- & J. F. McManus
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Matters Arising |
Multiple drivers of Miocene C4 ecosystem expansions
- Enno Schefuß
- & Lydie M. Dupont
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Matters Arising |
Reply to: Multiple drivers of Miocene C4 ecosystem expansions
- Pratigya J. Polissar
- , Cassaundra Rose
- & Peter deMenocal
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Article |
Southern Ocean carbon sink enhanced by sea-ice feedbacks at the Antarctic Cold Reversal
Increased Southern Ocean productivity driven by sea-ice feedbacks contributed to a slowdown in rising CO2 levels during the last deglaciation, according to analyses of marine-derived aerosols from an Antarctic ice core.
- C. J. Fogwill
- , C. S. M. Turney
- & A. Cooper
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Steady erosion rates in the Himalayas through late Cenozoic climatic changes
Long-term Himalayan erosion rates remained stable through the global climatic changes of the past six million years, according to the cosmogenic nuclide composition of terrestrial sediments recovered from the Bay of Bengal.
- Sebastien J. P. Lenard
- , Jérôme Lavé
- & Karim Keddadouche
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News & Views |
Ancient ice-sheet collapse
A revised age reconstruction suggests marine-based regions of the Eurasian Ice Sheet melted rapidly, contributing to a major sea-level rise some 14,600 years ago. Such a rapid collapse of massive ice hints at the vulnerability of Earth’s remaining ice sheets.
- Joseph D. Ortiz
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Article |
Eurasian Ice Sheet collapse was a major source of Meltwater Pulse 1A 14,600 years ago
Marine-based sections of the Eurasian Ice Sheet collapsed rapidly during a warming event 14,600 years ago and contributed to the Meltwater Pulse 1A event, according to a recalibrated age model for sediments from the Norwegian Sea.
- Jo Brendryen
- , Haflidi Haflidason
- & Bjarte Hannisdal
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Article |
Phosphorus-limited conditions in the early Neoproterozoic ocean maintained low levels of atmospheric oxygen
Early Neoproterozoic marine productivity fell due to nutrient drawdown following a switch from an iron-rich to a sulfide-rich ocean, according to records of phosphorus geochemistry measured from sedimentary sections in North China.
- Romain Guilbaud
- , Simon W. Poulton
- & Timothy M. Lenton
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Editorial |
A stratigraphy of Nature Geoscience
We look back on which geologic intervals have most often informed the science published in the journal.
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Global ocean heat content in the Last Interglacial
Rapid oceanic and atmospheric circulation shifts led to a transient peak in the mean temperature of the ocean at the start of the Last Interglacial, according to noble gas isotope records from an Antarctic ice core.
- S. Shackleton
- , D. Baggenstos
- & J. P. Severinghaus
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Climate-forced sea-level lowstands in the Indian Ocean during the last two millennia
Two intervals of distinctly lower Indian Ocean sea level during the last two millennia occurred during times of relatively low incoming solar radiation, according to an analysis of U–Th dated coral microatolls in the Maldives.
- Paul S. Kench
- , Roger F. McLean
- & Keven Roy
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Rapid expansion of northern peatlands and doubled estimate of carbon storage
Northern peatlands are estimated to store more than 1,000 Gt of carbon, almost doubling previous estimates, according to a reconstruction of historical peat carbon accumulation.
- Jonathan E. Nichols
- & Dorothy M. Peteet
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Varied contribution of the Southern Ocean to deglacial atmospheric CO2 rise
Southern Ocean surface waters near Australia emerged as a major source of CO2 during the last deglaciation due to shifting ecology and circulation, according a proxy record of seawater pH based on boron isotopes covering the past 25,000 years.
- Andrew D. Moy
- , Martin R. Palmer
- & Thomas B. Chalk
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Consistent CO2 release by pyrite oxidation on continental shelves prior to glacial terminations
Minimum atmospheric CO2 levels during glacial intervals were set, in part, by repeated CO2 release from pyrite oxidation on exposed continental shelves, according to a geochemical model of the past 3 Myr.
- Martin Kölling
- , Ilham Bouimetarhan
- & Matthias Zabel
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Global cooling linked to increased glacial carbon storage via changes in Antarctic sea ice
Isolation of deep water around Antarctica due to surface cooling can explain half of the change in atmospheric CO2 levels through glacial–interglacial cycles, according to coupled ocean–sea ice and biogeochemical numerical modelling.
- Alice Marzocchi
- & Malte F. Jansen
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Editorial |
The great climate conundrum
The end of pre-industrial climate — the baseline for assessing the extent of human-induced warming today — is not easy to pinpoint in time. Regardless, the past decades stand out from two millennia of climate fluctuations.
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Last phase of the Little Ice Age forced by volcanic eruptions
Large volcanic eruptions in the first half of the nineteenth century blurred the transition from the Little Ice Age to anthropogenic warming, and led to sustained cooling, drought in Africa and weakened monsoons, suggests a combination of observations and model simulations.
- Stefan Brönnimann
- , Jörg Franke
- & Christoph C. Raible
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Consistent multidecadal variability in global temperature reconstructions and simulations over the Common Era
Multidecadal global-mean temperature fluctuations over the past 2,000 years are consistent in comprehensive climate reconstructions and model simulations, and volcanic eruptions had the most important influence at that timescale between 1300 and 1800 CE.
- Raphael Neukom
- , Luis A. Barboza
- & Lucien von Gunten
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News & Views |
Emergence of the African savannah
African savannah grasslands initially proliferated in the late Miocene due to declining atmospheric CO2, rather than previously proposed regional climate drying. Supplanting previous woodland vegetation due to photosynthetic adaptations, these grasslands set the stage for subsequent mammalian evolutionary trends on the continent.
- Hayley Cawthra
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Article |
Synchronous rise of African C4 ecosystems 10 million years ago in the absence of aridification
Aridification did not cause the expansion of ecosystems using the C4 photosynthetic pathway in parts of Africa 10 million years ago, according to leaf-wax analyses in deep-sea drill cores, leaving declining atmospheric carbon dioxide levels as the most plausible cause.
- Pratigya J. Polissar
- , Cassaundra Rose
- & Peter deMenocal
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Higher frequency of Central Pacific El Niño events in recent decades relative to past centuries
Compared to the past few centuries, Central Pacific El Niño events have become more frequent, whereas the number of Eastern Pacific events has declined in the most recent decades, according to reconstructions from a network of seasonally resolved coral records.
- Mandy B. Freund
- , Benjamin J. Henley
- & Dietmar Dommenget
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News & Views |
Toarcian land vegetation loss
The Toarcian oceanic anoxic event disrupted terrestrial ecosystems as well as the marine realm, according to analyses of microfossils derived from land plants. Changes in diversity and composition were initially more rapid in terrestrial ecosystems.
- Luke Mander
- & Jennifer C. McElwain
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Substantial vegetation response to Early Jurassic global warming with impacts on oceanic anoxia
Global warming impacts during the Toarcian Oceanic Anoxic Event were initially more severe for terrestrial ecosystems than marine ecosystems, and included a loss of vegetation diversity, according to spore–pollen assemblage data from Pliensbachian–Toarcian rock samples.
- Sam M. Slater
- , Richard J. Twitchett
- & Vivi Vajda
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Eleven phases of Greenland Ice Sheet shelf-edge advance over the past 2.7 million years
Eleven phases of advance of the Greenland Ice Sheet, following the first expansion between 3.3 and 2.6 million years ago, are documented in analyses of a grid of seismic reflection data.
- Paul C. Knutz
- , Andrew M. W. Newton
- & Karen Dybkjær
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Deep Atlantic Ocean carbon storage and the rise of 100,000-year glacial cycles
Deep Atlantic carbon storage increased and the meriodional overturning circulation weakened at the mid-Pleistocene transition to 100,000-year glacial–interglacial cycles, according to analyses of foraminifera trace elements and Nd isotopes.
- J. R. Farmer
- , B. Hönisch
- & J. Kim
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Climate control on banded iron formations linked to orbital eccentricity
Long-period Milankovitch eccentricity oscillations controlled compositional variations in the 2.48-billion-year-old Kuruman Banded Iron Formation, according to cyclostratigraphic analysis and high-precision dating.
- Margriet L. Lantink
- , Joshua H. F. L. Davies
- & Frederik J. Hilgen
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Role of Asian summer monsoon subsystems in the inter-hemispheric progression of deglaciation
During deglacial warming at Termination II, about 130,000 years ago, the Indian summer monsoon helped convey heat northwards as deglaciation progressed from the Southern to the Northern Hemisphere, according to sediment records from the Bay of Bengal.
- K. Nilsson-Kerr
- , P. Anand
- & S. J. Hammond
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Matters Arising |
No evidence for equatorial Pacific dust fertilization
- A. W. Jacobel
- , R. F. Anderson
- & Y. Zhou