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Letter |
Landslide erosion controlled by hillslope material
Landslide erosion is a primary control of landscape relief. A wide-ranging analysis of landslide geometry shows that soil-based landslides are generally less voluminous than landslides that involve the failure of bedrock, and provides refined metrics for estimating the volume of a landslide from the area of the failure
- Isaac J. Larsen
- , David R. Montgomery
- & Oliver Korup
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Letter |
Influence of Hadean crust evident in basalts and cherts from the Pilbara Craton
There is evidence for the existence of differentiated crust early in Earth’s history, but little is known about the timing and nature of the crust and its formation. New samarium–neodymium data from the Dresser Formation in Western Australia point to differentiation of the early crust from the mantle more than 4.3 billion years ago.
- Svetlana G. Tessalina
- , Bernard Bourdon
- & Pascal Philippot
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Letter |
Slip-rate variability and distributed deformation in the Marmara Sea fault system
The slip rate along a fault controls the accumulation of strain that is eventually released during an earthquake. Estimates from a three-dimensional geomechanical model of the slip rate on the main Marmara fault near Istanbul, Turkey reconcile geodetic and geological observations and indicate smaller values and higher variability than previously thought.
- Tobias Hergert
- & Oliver Heidbach
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Letter |
India–Asia convergence driven by the subduction of the Greater Indian continent
The most spectacular example of plate convergence on Earth was the motion of the Indian plate towards Eurasia, and the subsequent collision. Density estimates of the Greater Indian continent, after its upper crust is scraped off at the Himalayan front, suggest that this continental plate is readily subductable, potentially explaining why the convergence did not halt on collision.
- F. A. Capitanio
- , G. Morra
- & L. Moresi
Leftover lithosphere