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| Open AccessIntegrated rupture mechanics for slow slip events and earthquakes
A new model elucidates the connections between silent earthquakes ("slow slip events") and regular ones by accounting for their finite rupture depth. It reconciles debated features of slow slip events and explains how they might lead to earthquakes.
- Huihui Weng
- & Jean-Paul Ampuero
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Article
| Open AccessSound velocity of hexagonal close-packed iron to the Earth’s inner core pressure
New constraints on the composition of Earth’s inner core are provided by experimental verification of Birch’s law for hexagonal close-packed iron to pressure above 300 gigapascals, about double the pressure achieved in previous investigations
- Daijo Ikuta
- , Eiji Ohtani
- & Alfred Q. R. Baron
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Article
| Open AccessA distinct ripple-formation regime on Mars revealed by the morphometrics of barchan dunes
Dust storms on Mars drive water escape to space. Here, the authors show the impact Martian dust storms have on the abundance of atmospheric hydrogen and oxygen, and how this helps to overall oxidize the Martian atmosphere.
- Lior Rubanenko
- , Mathieu G. A. Lapôtre
- & Andrew Gunn
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| Open AccessInterplay between oceanic subduction and continental collision in building continental crust
Gangdese arc magmatism, Tibet, was initially dominated by fractional crystallization of mantle derived magmas, followed by the remelting of these rocks during collision. These two stages lead to the stratification of the juvenile continental crust
- Di-Cheng Zhu
- , Qing Wang
- & Xuan-Xue Mo
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Article
| Open AccessSurface faulting earthquake clustering controlled by fault and shear-zone interactions
The mechanisms responsible for clustering of surface fault earthquakes are often unclear. Here the authors find that differential stress fluctuates during fault/shear-zone interactions which can produce changes in strain-rate and slip-rate changes leading to earthquake clustering.
- Zoë K. Mildon
- , Gerald P. Roberts
- & Eutizio Vittori
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Article
| Open AccessPhysics-informed deep learning approach for modeling crustal deformation
Modeling crustal deformation is critical for understanding of tectonic processes and earthquake potentials. Here, the authors propose a deep learning approach that can be extended in a straightforward manner to complex crustal structures and inverse problems.
- Tomohisa Okazaki
- , Takeo Ito
- & Naonori Ueda
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Article
| Open AccessSea-level rise will likely accelerate rock coast cliff retreat rates
Results forecast that cliff retreat rates will increase by up to an order of magnitude by 2100 according to current predictions of sea-level rise, and reveal that even historically stable rock coasts are highly sensitive to sea-level rise.
- Jennifer R. Shadrick
- , Dylan H. Rood
- & Klaus M. Wilcken
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Article
| Open AccessCrystal growth in confinement
How confinement affects the growth of crystals is poorly understood. Experiments in which NaClO3 and CaCO3 crystals are grown close to a glass substrate now show that new molecular layers can form via the transport of mass through the liquid film at the crystal-substrate interface.
- Felix Kohler
- , Olivier Pierre-Louis
- & Dag Kristian Dysthe
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| Open AccessCycles of Andean mountain building archived in the Amazon Fan
South American cordilleran orogenic systems have repeated complex magmatic and deformation histories. Here the authors analyze detrital zircons found in the Amazon deep-sea fan that record mountain-building events and reveal cycles of orogenesis with periods of ~60–90 Myr since the Phanerozoic.
- Cody C. Mason
- , Brian W. Romans
- & Andrea Fildani
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Comment
| Open AccessThe harmful legacy of colonialism in natural hazard risk
The colonial practices of geoscience have created long term vulnerabilities to natural hazards. In this comment the ongoing consequence are explored of colonialism as well as the actions that are needed to be taken to reduce natural hazard risk.
- Jazmin P. Scarlett
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Article
| Open AccessVertical depletion of ophiolitic mantle reflects melt focusing and interaction in sub-spreading-center asthenosphere
Upward depletion of ophiolitic mantle is produced by melt-peridotite reaction with lateral melt/rock ratio variations in an asthenospheric upwelling column, which flows to become the horizontal oceanic lithospheric mantle under spreading centers.
- Qing Xiong
- , Hong-Kun Dai
- & Suzanne Y. O’ Reilly
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Article
| Open AccessHigh temperature methane emissions from Large Igneous Provinces as contributors to late Permian mass extinctions
Isotope signatures preserved within a natural gas reservoir reveal large quantities of methane were generated and released from oil by a Large Igneous Province, resulting in the initiation of global warming, which led to the End-Permian Extinction.
- Chengsheng Chen
- , Shengfei Qin
- & Zheng Zhou
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Article
| Open AccessCreep fronts and complexity in laboratory earthquake sequences illuminate delayed earthquake triggering
Laboratory earthquake experiments reproduce delayed earthquake triggering, similar to aftershocks, as a result of propagating slow slip fronts. The speed of the fronts can be highly sensitive to fault stress levels left behind by previous earthquakes.
- Sara Beth L. Cebry
- , Chun-Yu Ke
- & Gregory C. McLaskey
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Article
| Open AccessEvidence for late-glacial oceanic carbon redistribution and discharge from the Pacific Southern Ocean
Evaluation of foraminiferal test dissolution by Computed Tomography scanner provided deep seawater carbonate ion concentration at the Southern Ocean. Quantitative data highlighted the reconfiguration of glacial to deglacial carbon storage followed by oceanic-atmospheric CO2 transfer.
- Shinya Iwasaki
- , Lester Lembke-Jene
- & Frank Lamy
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Article
| Open AccessSouthern Ocean biogenic blooms freezing-in Oligocene colder climates
A phase of unique turbulent oceanographic and tectonic circumstances during the Early Oligocene caused high productivity in the Australian Antarctic Basin and enabled the stabilization of colder global climates.
- Katharina Hochmuth
- , Joanne M. Whittaker
- & Joseph H. LaCasce
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| Open AccessBarium content of Archaean continental crust reveals the onset of subduction was not global
Only subduction zone can produce Ba-rich TTG, representing a proxy for the onset of subduction. Statistical increases in Ba contents of Archaean TTGs reveal the diachronous onset of subduction from regional at 4 Ga to globally complete after 2.7 Ga
- Guangyu Huang
- , Ross N. Mitchell
- & Jinghui Guo
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| Open AccessVolcanically hosted venting with indications of ultramafic influence at Aurora hydrothermal field on Gakkel Ridge
The Aurora hydrothermal field (Arctic Ocean) is hosted in volcanic rocks but also shows evidence of mantle rock influence in the shallow sub-surface. Our discovery is pertinent to disciplines from marine mining to the search for life beyond Earth.
- Christopher R. German
- , Eoghan P. Reeves
- & Antje Boetius
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Article
| Open AccessCoexisting divergent and convergent plate boundary assemblages indicate plate tectonics in the Neoarchean
This study reports coexisting Neoarchean divergent and convergent plate boundary rock assemblages, providing new evidence for the operation of plate tectonics 2.55–2.51 billion years ago; and also suggests the subduction zone was warm then.
- Bo Huang
- , Tim E. Johnson
- & Timothy Kusky
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Article
| Open AccessGlobal thermal spring distribution and relationship to endogenous and exogenous factors
Data from 6000 geothermal areas worldwide are analyzed with a machine learning approach. The analysis suggests and confirms a dominant role of the terrestrial heat flow, topography, volcanism and extensional tectonics.
- G. Tamburello
- , G. Chiodini
- & C. Masciantonio
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Matters Arising
| Open AccessReply to: Towards solving the missing ice problem and the importance of rigorous model data comparisons
- Evan J. Gowan
- , Xu Zhang
- & Gerrit Lohmann
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Article
| Open AccessResolving puzzles of the phase-transformation-based mechanism of the strong deep-focus earthquake
The developed theory for coupled deformation, plastic strain-induced phase transformation, transformation-induced plasticity, and self-blown-up deformation-transformation-heating in shear band explains the main puzzles of deep-focus earthquakes.
- Valery I. Levitas
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| Open AccessExhumation and tectonic history of inaccessible subglacial interior East Antarctica from thermochronology on glacial erratics
Glacially transported igneous rocks eroded from the deep interior of ice-covered East Antarctica constrain a remarkable episodic cooling and exhumation history that helps unravel its mysterious tectonic evolution over the last 500 million years.
- Paul G. Fitzgerald
- & John W. Goodge
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Article
| Open AccessSeismic events miss important kinematically governed grain scale mechanisms during shear failure of porous rock
Sound and Vision: In-situ synchrotron x-ray imaging with simultaneous acoustic monitoring captures grain scale damage mechanisms and unlocks the relationship between seismic and aseismic processes during catastrophic failure of porous rock.
- Alexis Cartwright-Taylor
- , Maria-Daphne Mangriotis
- & Oxana V. Magdysyuk
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Article
| Open AccessGenetic model of the El Laco magnetite-apatite deposits by extrusion of iron-rich melt
Can volcanoes erupt ore deposits? This study combines observations, experiments, and simulations to show that iron ore deposits on El Laco volcano formed by eruption of melt sourced from separation of Fe-rich melt from a silicate magma body beneath.
- Tobias Keller
- , Fernando Tornos
- & Jenny Suckale
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Article
| Open AccessHidden pressurized fluids prior to the 2014 phreatic eruption at Mt Ontake
Phreatic volcanic eruptions can be unexpected and devastating. Here the authors, using seismic-based methodologies, find that pressurized fluids accumulated 5 months before the deadly phreatic eruption at Mt Ontake; a period previously considered as completely quiescent.
- Corentin Caudron
- , Yosuke Aoki
- & Toshiko Terakawa
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Article
| Open AccessZinc isotopic evidence for recycled carbonate in the deep mantle
Zhang et al. perform high-precision zinc (Zn) isotopic analysis on lavas from St. Helena Island in the Atlantic, and Cook-Austral Islands in the Pacific, and confirm that ancient superficial carbonates were transported into the deep mantle billions of years ago.
- Xiao-Yu Zhang
- , Li-Hui Chen
- & Wei-Qiang Li
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Article
| Open AccessA globally relevant stock of soil nitrogen in the Yedoma permafrost domain
A climate sensitive permafrost region (Yedoma domain) was found to contain globally relevant N stock of >40 Gt nitrogen, of which 4 to 16 Gt of the N could become available by thaw until 2100. This study increases the current estimates by nearly 50%.
- Jens Strauss
- , Christina Biasi
- & Guido Grosse
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Article
| Open AccessInversions of landslide strength as a proxy for subsurface weathering
Bedrock weathering is associated with landslides, and also manifests as a change in the strength of subsurface materials. This study analyzes inventoried landslides to explore relationships between strength and landslide depth as a potential reflection of subsurface weathering at large scales.
- Stefano Alberti
- , Ben Leshchinsky
- & Michael J. Olsen
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Article
| Open AccessReconstructing Earth’s atmospheric oxygenation history using machine learning
Earth’s oxygenation history can be reconstructed using machine learning and mafic igneous geochemical data. Agreement with independent proxy predictions for surface conditions implies that interior processes are critical in atmospheric oxygenation.
- Guoxiong Chen
- , Qiuming Cheng
- & Molei Zhao
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Article
| Open AccessLinking the scaling of tremor and slow slip near Parkfield, CA
Huang and Hawthorne present new evidence supporting that tremor and slow slip are linked by the same moment-duration scaling. First-order implications would include that tremor and slow slip are likely generated by the same fault zone process.
- Hui Huang
- & Jessica C. Hawthorne
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Article
| Open AccessEolian chronology reveals causal links between tectonics, climate, and erg generation
Modeling cosmogenic nuclides concentrations from Kalahari Desert Sand reveals the time of sand introduction into the landscape. This coincides with morphotectonic and climatic changes that could have triggered sand production and its impact on the environment.
- Shlomy Vainer
- , Ari Matmon
- & Karim Keddadouche
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Article
| Open AccessThe role of gravitational body forces in the development of metamorphic core complexes
A long-standing controversy surrounds low-angle nature of observed detachment faults within metamorphic core complexes. Here, the authors show that post-orogenic collapse of mountain belts can create a low-angle detachment, resolving the controversy.
- Alireza Bahadori
- , William E. Holt
- & Lucy M. Flesch
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Article
| Open AccessRock and fault rheology explain differences between on fault and distributed seismicity
A new study sheds light on earthquake physics, showing that lithological and rheological heterogeneities in the rocks composing the seismogenic layer strongly influence seismicity distributions and earthquake scaling laws.
- C. Collettini
- , M. R. Barchi
- & E. Tinti
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Article
| Open AccessAstrochronology of the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum on the Atlantic Coastal Plain
Astrochronology of a core in Maryland suggests that the onset of the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM) warming lasted about 6 thousand years. These data are more consistent with astronomical forcing than an extraterrestial trigger for the PETM.
- Mingsong Li
- , Timothy J. Bralower
- & Marci M. Robinson
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Article
| Open AccessMachine learning-based tsunami inundation prediction derived from offshore observations
One of the main challenges in the tsunami inundation prediction is related to the real-time computational efforts done under restrictive time constraints. Here the authors show that using machine learning-based model, we can achieve comparable accuracy to the physics-based model with ~99% computational cost reduction.
- Iyan E. Mulia
- , Naonori Ueda
- & Kenji Satake
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Article
| Open AccessFeedbacks between sea-floor spreading, trade winds and precipitation in the Southern Red Sea
Testing feedbacks between climatic and geological processes are challenging. Here, the authors show that geomorphological features of the southern Red Sea margin are best interpreted by a feedback cycle between orographic precipitation, mid-ocean spreading and coastal magmatism, and that the feedback is enhanced by the trade wind.
- Kurt Stüwe
- , Jörg Robl
- & Finlay M. Stuart
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| Open AccessIn situ X-ray and acoustic observations of deep seismic faulting upon phase transitions in olivine
This paper shows that formation of thin weak layers filled with nanocrystalline olivine/wadsleyite, upon the pressure-induced phase transition of olivine, is the major cause of deep-focus earthquakes on the metastable olivine wedge in deep slabs.
- Tomohiro Ohuchi
- , Yuji Higo
- & Tetsuo Irifune
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Article
| Open AccessUltra-depleted hydrogen isotopes in hydrated glass record Late Cretaceous glaciation in Antarctica
Analysis of volcanic glass from the Transantarctic Mountains suggests that 90 Million years ago glaciation was widespread in Antarctica, a period in Earth’s history when the continent was considered to be ice-free and part of a global greenhouse.
- Demian A. Nelson
- , John M. Cottle
- & Alfredo Camacho
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Article
| Open AccessEvolution of tropical land temperature across the last glacial termination
Ancient drip water in a Borneo stalagmite reveals a strong land temperature rise across the last glacial termination in close correspondence with atmospheric CO2, and an intriguing decoupling between tropical temperature and hydroclimate.
- M. H. Løland
- , Y. Krüger
- & A. N. Meckler
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Article
| Open AccessRevealing the spatiotemporal complexity of the magnitude distribution and b-value during an earthquake sequence
The authors introduce a new perspective to study the spatiotemporal behavior of the magnitude–frequency distribution: spatially isolating seismogenic zones to provide an appropriate scale to resolve the b-value. Among those zones, the b-value behaved remarkably throughout the 2016 central Italy sequence.
- Marcus Herrmann
- , Ester Piegari
- & Warner Marzocchi
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Article
| Open AccessRainfall and sea level drove the expansion of seasonally flooded habitats and associated bird populations across Amazonia
This study found that millennial periods of higher rainfall combined with rising sea level enhanced sediment accumulation in Amazonian rivers valleys. This fuelled synchronous expansion of vegetation adapted to seasonally flooded substrates and its specialized bird populations, showing how global climate changes can affect specific Amazonian species.
- A. O. Sawakuchi
- , E. D. Schultz
- & C. C. Ribas
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Article
| Open AccessSustained and intensified lacustrine methane cycling during Early Permian climate warming
This study reports the occurrence of sustained and intensified microbial CH4 cycling in a giant lake in northwestern China during Early Permian climate warming. Lacustrine CH4 emissions may have contributed to the end of the Late Paleozoic Ice Age.
- Funing Sun
- , Wenxuan Hu
- & Shuzhong Shen
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Article
| Open AccessEvidence for a developing plate boundary in the western Mediterranean
Conventional models propose multiple fault systems across a diffuse deformation zone absorbing plate convergence in the western Mediterranean. Here the authors show new data supporting the active development of a single plate boundary fault system, representing an underappreciated seismic and tsunami hazard.
- Laura Gómez de la Peña
- , César R. Ranero
- & Abdelkarim Yelles-Chaouche
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Article
| Open AccessNitrogen isotope evidence for Earth’s heterogeneous accretion of volatiles
How and when Earth acquired its major volatiles N-C-H-S remains unclear. Here the authors show that Earth may have acquired its major volatiles from both reduced and oxidized impactors before and during the Moon-forming giant impact.
- Lanlan Shi
- , Wenhua Lu
- & Yuan Li
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Article
| Open AccessIn-conduit capture of sub-micron volcanic ash particles via turbophoresis and sintering
Here the authors document evidence of ultrafine ash captured within ash-venting nozzles at Cordón Caulle volcano (Chile). This decouples eruptive processes from the emitted products, as explained by a new model of in-vent ash migration and sticking.
- Jamie I. Farquharson
- , Hugh Tuffen
- & C. Ian Schipper
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Article
| Open AccessCrustal melting in orogenic belts revealed by eclogite thermal properties
By measuring the thermal properties of eclogite at high pressures, the authors found that temperature of orogenic continental crust is sufficient to melt granite and phengite, leading to low-velocity and high-conductivity anomalies in orogenic belts.
- Baohua Zhang
- , Hongzhan Fei
- & Qunke Xia
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Article
| Open AccessTectonically-driven oxidant production in the hot biosphere
Researchers at Newcastle University have discovered a mechanism by which earthquakes create bursts of hydrogen peroxide and oxygen in hot underground fractures. These may have played a vital role in the early evolution and origin of life on Earth.
- Jordan Stone
- , John O. Edgar
- & Jon Telling
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Article
| Open AccessCompeting effects of vegetation density on sedimentation in deltaic marshes
Wetland vegetation is typically considered only in terms of enhancing sediment accretion and positively impacting land-building. Here, the authors show that the degree of enhancement has a strong dependence on vegetation density through the influence on sediment supply and retention.
- Yuan Xu
- , Christopher R. Esposito
- & Heidi M. Nepf
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Article
| Open AccessSpace-time monitoring of groundwater fluctuations with passive seismic interferometry
Characterization of groundwater systems is important for sustainable freshwater management. Here, the authors map the distribution of groundwater storage changes at several hundred meters below the metropolitan Los Angeles during 2000–2020, by developing a cost-effective method using ambient ground vibrations recorded by seismometers.
- Shujuan Mao
- , Albanne Lecointre
- & Michel Campillo