Solid Earth sciences articles within Nature Communications

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  • Article
    | Open Access

    Tidal channel networks mediate the exchange of water, nutrients, sediment and biota between an estuary and marshes. Here, the authors show that the presence of vegetation on the marsh platform contributes to the formation of an efficient channel network.

    • William S. Kearney
    •  & Sergio Fagherazzi

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The causes behind fluctuations in Neptune's brightness as observed from Earth have proved enigmatic. Here, Aplin and Harrison use photometric observations to show that solar ultraviolet radiation and galactic cosmic rays combined are responsible for the fluctuations originating in Neptune’s atmosphere.

    • K. L. Aplin
    •  & R. G. Harrison

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The cause of the end-Cretaceous mass extinction is still debated due to difficulties separating the influences of two closely-timed potential causal events (massive volcanism and meteorite impact). Here, the authors link the extinction to both kill mechanisms through a new paleotemperature record.

    • Sierra V. Petersen
    • , Andrea Dutton
    •  & Kyger C. Lohmann

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The Paleogene continental collision between the Indian subcontinent and Asia initiated biotic interchange over a timescale of millions of years. Klaus et al. develop a phylogeographic method to estimate the dynamics of biotic interchange over these timescales, revealing periods of acceleration, stagnation and decline.

    • Sebastian Klaus
    • , Robert J. Morley
    •  & Jia-Tang Li

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Diamonds provide a window into deep Earth processes and can be used to understand the deep carbon cycle. Here, Jacob et al. show that diamond precipitation can be triggered by the oxidation of pyrrhotite to magnetite at the base of a cratonic lithosphere, providing insight into diamond formation.

    • Dorrit E. Jacob
    • , Sandra Piazolo
    •  & Patrick Trimby

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The role of the low velocity-high conductivity zones (LV–HCZs) in developing the Tibetan Plateau has remained controversial. Here, Wang et al.present new geochemical and petrological data that show the LV–HCZs are sources of partial melt thus giving insight into the development of the Tibetan Plateau.

    • Qiang Wang
    • , Chris J. Hawkesworth
    •  & Yan-Hui Dong

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Meteorites falling on Earth today are believed to represent 100–150 parent bodies. Within 470 Myr ago sediments at a limestone quarry in Sweden, Schmitz et al. have found and identified a new type of meteorite based on chromium and oxygen isotopes sourced from a previously unknown parental body.

    • B. Schmitz
    • , Q. -Z. Yin
    •  & G. R. Huss

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Our understanding of subglacial lake drainage events is limited by a lack of direct observations. Here, the authors use ground penetrating radar to identify a relict subglacial lake and infer drainage mechanisms based on geomorphological features.

    • Stephen J. Livingstone
    • , Daniel J. Utting
    •  & Andrew C. Fowler

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The influence of surface ponding on the interior of ice shelves is currently unknown. Here, the authors combine surface and borehole geophysics on the Larsen C Ice Shelf, Antarctica, with remote sensing and modelling and show how pond refreezing increases ice shelf density and temperature.

    • Bryn Hubbard
    • , Adrian Luckman
    •  & Ian Rutt

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The causes of intraplate deformation remain poorly constrained. Heron et al. use numerical models to show that ancient plate tectonic processes produce mantle lithosphere structures that may be reactivated to generate intraplate deformation.

    • Philip J. Heron
    • , Russell N. Pysklywec
    •  & Randell Stephenson

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Friction commonly involves different material types (bimaterials) at their sliding interface. Here, in laboratory experiments Shlomai and Fineberg reveal effects uniquely due to biomaterial coupling, with slip-pulses and crack-like supershear fronts dominating opposing propagation directions.

    • Hadar Shlomai
    •  & Jay Fineberg

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Atmospheric methane may be consumed by microorganisms in soil, but the mechanisms behind high-affinity methane oxidization remain poorly understood. Here, Jia et al. show that known methanotrophic bacteria are responsible for atmospheric methane uptake in periodically drained wetland ecosystems.

    • Yuanfeng Cai
    • , Yan Zheng
    •  & Zhongjun Jia

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Debate surrounds the causes, timing, and effects of the Cretaceous-Paleogene mass extinction, 66 Ma. Here, using new collections of marine macrofossils from Seymour Island, Antarctica, the authors show that the extinction was both rapid and severe in the high southern latitudes, contrary to previous studies.

    • James D. Witts
    • , Rowan J. Whittle
    •  & Vanessa C. Bowman

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Understanding the timescales of gas hydrate dissociation and methane release are critical to gauge the potential climate impact. Here, the authors report a methane efflux chronology from five sites in Barents and Norwegian seas and show methane release coincident with the release of ice sheet-induced pressure.

    • Antoine Crémière
    • , Aivo Lepland
    •  & Harald Brunstad

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Over a geological timescale, plate tectonics are thought to promote biodiversity, but this link remained descriptive. Here, Leprieur et al. model dynamically how plate tectonics shaped species diversification and movement of hotspots on tropical reefs over the past 140 million years.

    • Fabien Leprieur
    • , Patrice Descombes
    •  & Loïc Pellissier

  • Article
    | Open Access

    A range of mechanisms has been proposed for large-scale folding in polar ice sheets. Here, using new three-dimensional reconstructions of such folds in the onset region of the Greenland Petermann Glacier, the authors show that these formed due to flow convergence and the high mechanical anisotropy of ice.

    • Paul D. Bons
    • , Daniela Jansen
    •  & Ilka Weikusat

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Groundwater-surface water mixing zones link critical ecosystem domains, but attendant microbe-biogeochemistry-hydrology interactions are poorly known. Here, the authors show that groundwater-surface water mixing stimulates respiration, alters carbon composition, and shifts the ecology from stochastic to deterministic.

    • James C. Stegen
    • , James K. Fredrickson
    •  & Malak Tfaily

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The association between Central Atlantic Magmatic Province (CAMP) eruption volatiles and the end-Triassic mass extinction remains ambiguous. Here, the authors present mercury and palaeontological evidence from the same archive and show that significant biotic recovery did not begin until CAMP eruptions ceased.

    • Alyson M. Thibodeau
    • , Kathleen Ritterbush
    •  & Frank A. Corsetti

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The quantitative understanding of how gypsum nucleates and grows from aqueous solutions is limited. Here, the authors demonstrate how, by using truly in situ and fast time-resolved small-angle X-ray scattering, the four-stage solution-based nucleation and growth of this mineral can be quantified.

    • Tomasz M. Stawski
    • , Alexander E.S. van Driessche
    •  & Liane G. Benning

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Slow earthquakes, where fault slip is slow, can be large and may help trigger regular earthquakes, but the mechanics of slow slip are not fully understood. Leeman et al.show through laboratory experiments that slow slip behaviour on faults is controlled by the frictional dynamics of the surrounding material.

    • J. R. Leeman
    • , D. M. Saffer
    •  & C. Marone

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Suspended sediment currents travel through channels on the ocean floor to deliver enormous volumes of sediment to the deep ocean. Here, using a new approach for scaled laboratory experiments, the authors show how feedback between these currents and their deposits drive the formation of these submarine channels.

    • Jan de Leeuw
    • , Joris T. Eggenhuisen
    •  & Matthieu J. B. Cartigny

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Natural climate variability and persistency are reflected in the scaling properties of climate records. Here, the authors show that the scaling properties of interglacial and glacial climates are distinctively different: The former is monofractal while the latter is multifractal with much longer range memory.

    • Zhi-Gang Shao
    •  & Peter D. Ditlevsen

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Reconstructing past ocean conditions, particularly current velocity, is difficult due to a lack of available proxies. Here, the authors present a set of well-preserved buried iceberg scours from the mid-Norwegian slope, from which they are able to infer North Atlantic current speeds during the third-last glacial.

    • Andrew M. W. Newton
    • , Mads Huuse
    •  & Simon H. Brocklehurst

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Shock synthesis of diamond and even harder carbon polymorphs from graphite is of great interest for science and technology. Here, the authors present unprecedented in situmeasurements of the structural changes, showing ultrafast formation of diamond and, at higher pressures, evidence for a pure lonsdaleite structure.

    • D. Kraus
    • , A. Ravasio
    •  & M. Roth

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Pyroclastic flows of the 18.8 Ma Peach Spring Tuff super-eruption travelled >170 km and entrained substrate blocks up to ∼1 m diameter. Here, the authors show that these flows had a dense base and speeds of ∼5-20 m s−1, fed by an eruption discharging magma at rates up to ∼107-108 m3 s−1for at least 2.5-10 h.

    • O. Roche
    • , D. C. Buesch
    •  & G. A. Valentine

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Distinguishing between authigenic carbonate and primary marine carbonate is fundamental to our understanding of Earth’s carbon, oxygen and calcium cycles. Here, the authors show that a combination of uranium concentration and carbon isotope composition is able to distinguish between the two carbonate sinks.

    • Ming-Yu Zhao
    • , Yong-Fei Zheng
    •  & Yan-Yan Zhao

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Volcanic ash is hazardous to jet engines, with high temperatures in turbines causing ash particles to melt and stick to the engine, adversely affecting turbine function. Here, the authors explore the spectrum of natural ash compositions and their behaviour and impact at high temperatures.

    • Wenjia Song
    • , Yan Lavallée
    •  & Donald B. Dingwell

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Plume-slab interaction and its surface expression remain poorly understood. Here, the authors compare 3-D anisotropic tomography and geodynamical models, and show that the stagnation and fastest trench retreat of the Tonga slab are consistent with an interaction with the Samoan plume and the Hikurangi plateau.

    • Sung-Joon Chang
    • , Ana M. G. Ferreira
    •  & Manuele Faccenda

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Ice streams are fundamental to ice sheet dynamics, but the mechanisms controlling their flow remain elusive. Here, the authors perform macro- and microscale analyses of mega-scale glacial lineations, which indicate a continuously accreting, shallow-deforming bed during ice stream flow.

    • Matteo Spagnolo
    • , Emrys Phillips
    •  & Izabela Szuman

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Volcanic activity is often accompanied by small earthquakes, with focal mechanisms indicating stress state beneath volcanoes. Here, the authors demonstrate that quantitative evaluation of temporal stress changes is an effective tool for eruption monitoring.

    • Toshiko Terakawa
    • , Aitaro Kato
    •  & Takashi Okuda

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Subduction is a main component of Phanerozoic plate tectonics, although the timing of initiation is controversial. Here, the authors present microstructural data from two 3.72 billion year old dunite lenses of Isua in Greenland, which suggest that subduction was already in operation during the Eoarchaean.

    • Mary-Alix Kaczmarek
    • , Steven M. Reddy
    •  & Vickie C. Bennett

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Collection data suggest the proportion of iron-based meteorites recovered from Antarctica is significantly lower than the rest of the world. Here, the authors propose a mechanism to explain this discrepancy, showing that iron meteorites heated by solar energy can move down through the ice, not to re-emerge.

    • G. W. Evatt
    • , M. J. Coughlan
    •  & I. D. Abrahams

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Fractures in rock can be altered geochemically and deformed under stress, affecting fluid flow rates across many orders of magnitude. Here, the authors present a universal scaling relationship between fluid flow and fracture specific stiffness, which will aid the interpretation of subsurface sites.

    • Laura J. Pyrak-Nolte
    •  & David D. Nolte

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Pb/U ratios and trace element distributions within zircon grains are used to determine a rock's age and geological processes, but the degree of element immobility and diffusion is uncertain. Here, the authors use atom probe tomography to reveal sub-micron scale mechanisms of trace element mobility.

    • Sandra Piazolo
    • , Alexandre La Fontaine
    •  & Julie M. Cairney

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Sediments record variations of the Earth’s magnetic field via the alignment of magnetic grains during and after deposition, yet the role of post-depositional processes remains unclear. Here, the authors present experiments showing how microbially-induced bioturbation controls the alignment process.

    • Xiangyu Zhao
    • , Ramon Egli
    •  & Sebastian Müller

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Predicting the West Antarctic Ice Sheet's response to future warming is hindered by a lack of historical evidence. Here, based on geomorphological evidence from and cosmogenic dating of Ellsworth Mountains' deposits, the authors show that at least a regional ice sheet survived Pleistocene interglacial cycles.

    • Andrew S. Hein
    • , John Woodward
    •  & David E. Sugden

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Quantifying Greenland's future contribution to sea level requires accurate portrayal of its outlet glaciers in ice sheet simulations. Here, the authors show that outlet glacier flow can be captured if ice thickness is well constrained and vertical shearing as well as membrane stresses are included in the model.

    • Andy Aschwanden
    • , Mark A. Fahnestock
    •  & Martin Truffer

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The magnitude of the Earth’s magnetic dipole has decreased by 9% over the past 175 years. Here, the authors suggest that the rate of dipole decay is controlled by a huge gyre in the liquid metal outer core acting on a field asymmetry, and that decay is set to continue for the next few decades.

    • Christopher C. Finlay
    • , Julien Aubert
    •  & Nicolas Gillet

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The development of pan-Arctic Ocean ice shelves during peak glacials was proposed in the 1970s, an idea that has been disputed due to lack of evidence. Here, the authors present geophysical mapping data supporting the presence of such an ice shelf during the peak of the penultimate glaciation ∼140–160 ka.

    • Martin Jakobsson
    • , Johan Nilsson
    •  & Igor Semiletov

  • Article
    | Open Access

    In the Earth's history, the timing of oceanic large-scale events of oxygen depletion remains poorly understood. Here, the authors show that palaeogeography was a major preconditioning factor during the Cretaceous, implying that thresholds to shift toward a global anoxia are likely to be much higher at present.

    • Yannick Donnadieu
    • , Emmanuelle Pucéat
    •  & Jean- François Deconinck

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Molar tooth structures are common in early- to mid-Proterozoic carbonates but extremely rare in rocks younger than 750 Ma. Here, the authors show molar tooth carbonate formation is related to benthic methane fluxes.

    • Bing Shen
    • , Lin Dong
    •  & Pengju Liu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Methane release across the Arctic continental shelf has been attributed to modern dissociation of gas hydrate, accelerated by ocean warming. Here, the authors show that thermogenic methane was stored as subglacial gas hydrate during the last glaciation, and subsequently released following ice sheet retreat.

    • Alexey Portnov
    • , Sunil Vadakkepuliyambatta
    •  & Alun Hubbard

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The Von Damm Vent Field comprises 85–90% talc, with hydrothermal fluids of unusual chemistry at 215 °C. Here, the authors show that the mineralogy results from seawater mixing with hydrothermal fluids and the heat output may represent a mode of crustal cooling not fully accounted for in global models.

    • Matthew R. S. Hodgkinson
    • , Alexander P. Webber
    •  & Bramley J. Murton

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The chemical compositions of young lava flows on the Moon have implications for late volcanism. Here, the authors present mineral distribution data from the Chang′e-3 Yutu rover in the northern Imbrium mare region, reporting unique compositional characteristics of a previously unsampled basalt type.

    • Zongcheng Ling
    • , Bradley L. Jolliff
    •  & Jianyu Wang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Our understanding of the conditions that characterised Neoproterozoic Earth are hindered by a lack of suitable proxies. Here, the authors propose and demonstrate the use of selenium isotopes as tracers of Earth's redox conditions.

    • Philip A. E. Pogge von Strandmann
    • , Eva E. Stüeken
    •  & David C. Catling

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Irreversible ice loss from East Antarctic outlet glaciers during periods of ice sheet instability is yet to be observed in the geological record. Here, Jones et al. combine surface-exposure ages and model simulations to show the centennial-scale glacier thinning of Mackay Glacier during the mid-Holocene.

    • R. S. Jones
    • , A. N. Mackintosh
    •  & S. L. Greenwood

  • Article
    | Open Access

    It is unclear why some ocean island basalts at ‘hotspots’ have low 3He/4He ratios similar to mid-ocean ridge basalts. Here, the authors perform convection calculations and show that these isotopic ratios can be reproduced by the episodic entrainment of deep isolated mantle reservoirs into thermal plumes.

    • Curtis D. Williams
    • , Mingming Li
    •  & Matthijs C. van Soest

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