Featured
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Research Briefing |
Tectonics regulate CO2 release more strongly than chemical weathering in central Italy
In a part of the Apennines, where the Earth’s crust is thin and heat flow is high, production of CO2 from deep below the mountains dominates over near-surface weathering processes that consume this greenhouse gas. Ultimately, the magnitude of deep CO2 release tips the balance towards a landscape that is a net carbon emitter.
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Article
| Open Access
Deep CO2 release and the carbon budget of the central Apennines modulated by geodynamics
The regional geodynamic gradient controls metamorphic carbon release during mountain building and regulates the inorganic carbon budget, according to carbon estimates in two river catchments of Italy’s central Apennines.
- Erica Erlanger
- , Aaron Bufe
- & Niels Hovius
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Editorial |
The ultra-lowdown on mantle heterogeneity
Compositional and structural variations within Earth’s lower mantle are a complex puzzle to which seismic data hold clues.
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Article
| Open Access
Remnants of shifting early Cenozoic Pacific lower mantle flow imaged beneath the Philippine Sea Plate
A record of lower mantle flow from 50 million years ago is preserved in the Pacific region and provides evidence for past lower mantle deformation, according to seismic anisotropy tomography.
- Jianke Fan
- , Dapeng Zhao
- & Dongdong Dong
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Article |
Cenozoic eastward growth of the Tibetan Plateau controlled by tearing of the Indian slab
The Cenozoic eastward growth of the Tibetan Plateau can be explained by slab tear and the resulting mantle flow beneath the eastern region, according to analysis of seismic tomography, tectonic and magmatic records of the Indian mantle lithosphere.
- Zengqian Hou
- , Lijun Liu
- & Qingtian Lü
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Article
| Open Access
Antarctic Peninsula glaciation patterns set by landscape evolution and dynamic topography
Spatially distinct ice-sheet growth on the Antarctic Peninsula through the Pleistocene was the result of dynamic topography and pre-glacial landscape evolution, not climate, according to a palaeotopographic reconstruction and ice-sheet modelling.
- Matthew Fox
- , Anna Clinger
- & Frederic Herman
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Article |
Palaeozoic cooling modulated by ophiolite weathering through organic carbon preservation
Weathering of mafic and ultramafic lithologies in ophiolites can enhance the preservation of organic carbon through the formation of smectite clays and modulate Earth’s climate, according to a coupled mineral weathering and carbon box model.
- Joshua Murray
- & Oliver Jagoutz
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Article |
Diverse slip behaviour of velocity-weakening fault barriers
Velocity-weakening seismic barriers in subduction zones display a range of behaviours consistent with geologic structural control on earthquake seismicity, according to earthquake cycle simulations along a megathrust.
- Diego Molina-Ormazabal
- , Jean-Paul Ampuero
- & Andrés Tassara
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Research Briefing |
The Shatsky Rise oceanic plateau formed through plume–ridge interaction
There are two competing hypotheses for the origin of oceanic plateaus: plume versus plate. Thermodynamic modelling of magmatism at Shatsky Rise, in the Pacific Ocean, now suggests that neither mechanism is adequate on its own and in fact plume–ridge interaction is required to explain the formation of this ocean plateau.
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Article |
Magmatism of Shatsky Rise controlled by plume–ridge interaction
Thermodynamic simulations suggest that Shatsky Rise magmatism is controlled by the interaction between mantle plume and mid-ocean ridge.
- Xubo Zhang
- , Eric L. Brown
- & William W. Sager
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Article
| Open Access
Widespread small grabens consistent with recent tectonism on Mercury
The widespread occurrence of young grabens associated with larger compressional structures on Mercury’s surface suggests contractional tectonism has continued on the planet into geologically recent times.
- Benjamin Man
- , David A. Rothery
- & Jack Wright
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Article |
Forearc seismogenesis in a weakly coupled subduction zone influenced by slab mantle fluids
Fluids at the plate interface are sourced from the dehydrating slab mantle beneath the Shumagin Gap in Alaska, and contribute to regional seismic risk by influencing rupture propagation, according to magnetotelluric observations and electrical resistivity modelling.
- Darcy Cordell
- , Samer Naif
- & Anne Bécel
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Article
| Open Access
Deep formation of Earth’s earliest continental crust consistent with subduction
Early continental crust formed at depth, implying some type of plate tectonics operating as long as 4 billion years ago, according to high-pressure and temperature melting experiments of an analogue material.
- Alan R. Hastie
- , Sally Law
- & Duncan D. Muir
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Article
| Open Access
Himalayan valley-floor widths controlled by tectonically driven exhumation
Himalayan valley-floor widths are controlled by long-term tectonically driven exhumation, rather than by water discharge, according to an analysis of valley-floor width and exhumation rate observations.
- Fiona J. Clubb
- , Simon M. Mudd
- & Hugh D. Sinclair
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Article |
Post-subduction tectonics induced by extension from a lithospheric drip
Post-subduction downwelling of lithosphere—or drips—can lead to extension and crustal thinning, influencing the tectonic evolution of continental crust after subduction termination, according to thermo-mechanical simulations.
- S. Pilia
- , D. R. Davies
- & N. Rawlinson
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Article |
Secular craton evolution due to cyclic deformation of underlying dense mantle lithosphere
Mantle lithosphere underlying the stable continental crust of cratons is dense and has experienced cyclic deformation since the Neoproterozoic, leading to the longevity of cratons, according to geological data and geodynamic modelling.
- Yaoyi Wang
- , Zebin Cao
- & Xiaotao Yang
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Article |
Slow slip along the Hikurangi margin linked to fluid-rich sediments trailing subducting seamounts
Sediment lenses trailing subducting seamounts could maintain long-lasting fluid pressures and support slow-slip behaviour at sediment-rich subduction zones, according to three-dimensional seismic surveys of the Hikurangi margin.
- Nathan L. Bangs
- , Julia K. Morgan
- & Bill Fry
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Article |
Calabrian forearc uplift paced by slab–mantle interactions during subduction retreat
Interactions between subducting slabs and the 660-km mantle transition zone can influence mantle convection and forearc uplift, according to rock uplift histories of the Calabrian forearc spanning the past 30 million years.
- Sean F. Gallen
- , Nikki M. Seymour
- & Paul O’Sullivan
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Article |
Links between large igneous province volcanism and subducted iron formations
Correlation between large igneous province activity and iron formation ages suggests that subducted iron formations may have facilitated mantle plume upwelling in the Archaean and Proterozoic Earth.
- Duncan S. Keller
- , Santiago Tassara
- & Rajdeep Dasgupta
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Article |
Kimberlite magmatism fed by upwelling above mobile basal mantle structures
Volatile-rich kimberlite magmas may be transported to the surface by broad mantle upwellings located above mobile basal mantle structures, according to global models of mantle convection over the past 200 million years.
- Ömer F. Bodur
- & Nicolas Flament
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News & Views |
A partially molten mantle
A global analysis of seismic waves has identified a widespread sharp velocity anomaly at the base of the low seismic velocity zone that is consistent with partial melting, closing a decades-long debate about the origin of this zone.
- Geeth Manthilake
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Article |
Asthenospheric low-velocity zone consistent with globally prevalent partial melting
A partially molten low-seismic-velocity zone in the asthenosphere is globally prevalent, but partial melting is not the primary control of low asthenospheric viscosity, according to analysis of seismic waves travelling through the mantle.
- Junlin Hua
- , Karen M. Fischer
- & Greg Hirth
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News & Views |
Estranged planetary twins
Venus and Earth have remarkably different surface conditions, yet the lithospheric thickness and heat flow on Venus may be Earth-like. This finding supports a tectonic regime with limited surface mobility and dominated by intrusive magmatism.
- Diogo L. Lourenço
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Article |
Formation of oxidized sulfur-rich magmas in Neoarchaean subduction zones
Neoarchaean arc magmas in Superior Province, Canada, were relatively oxidized and sulfur rich, reaching compositions comparable to modern subduction zones by approximately 2.7 Ga, according to analysis of sulfur speciation in zircon-hosted apatite grains.
- Xuyang Meng
- , Adam C. Simon
- & Jeremy P. Richards
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Article |
Earth-like lithospheric thickness and heat flow on Venus consistent with active rifting
An analysis of elastic lithospheric thickness suggests most coronae on Venus form on thin lithosphere with heat flow similar to that of rift zones on Earth, supporting a planet with active rifting and a squishy-lid convective regime.
- Suzanne E. Smrekar
- , Colby Ostberg
- & Joseph G. O’Rourke
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Q&A |
Digging into deep water
Nature Geoscience spoke with Dr Qingyang Hu, a high-pressure mineralogist at HPSTAR; Prof. Suzan van der Lee, a geophysicist at Northwestern University; and Prof. Katherine Kelley, a geochemist at the University of Rhode Island about their work and what the future of deep-water research might bring.
- Rebecca Neely
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News & Views |
Chasing supershear earthquakes
In rare and sometimes highly destructive cases, faults rupture faster than the seismic waves generated can travel. A global investigation of earthquake rupture speeds reveals that these events occur much more frequently than previously thought.
- Ryo Okuwaki
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Article |
Global frequency of oceanic and continental supershear earthquakes
Supershear earthquakes occur more frequently than previously thought, as suggested by the identification of four oceanic events from a global analysis of large shallow strike-slip earthquakes.
- Han Bao
- , Liuwei Xu
- & Haijiang Zhang
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Article |
Composition of continental crust altered by the emergence of land plants
Colonization of continents by plants some 430 Myr ago enhanced the complexity of weathering and sedimentary systems, and altered the composition of continental crust, according to statistical assessment of zircon compositions.
- Christopher J. Spencer
- , Neil S. Davies
- & Gui-Mei Lu
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Article |
Deep hydration and lithospheric thinning at oceanic transform plate boundaries
Deep hydration of the upper mantle at transform plate boundaries due to seawater infiltration leads to hydrous melting and lithospheric thinning, according to seismic surveys and thermal modelling of the Romanche transform fault.
- Zhikai Wang
- , Satish C. Singh
- & Milena Marjanović
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Article |
Fluid migration in low-permeability faults driven by decoupling of fault slip and opening
Decoupled fault slip and opening, leading to rapid fluid pressurization after initial failure, drives high-pressure fluid migration in low-permeability faults, according to modelling and in situ observations from a borehole fluid-injection experiment.
- Frédéric Cappa
- , Yves Guglielmi
- & Jens Birkholzer
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Research Briefing |
Geophysical imaging of fluids in the Cascadia subduction zone
Water that has been carried deep into the Earth by oceanic plates in subduction zones, can influence earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. Three-dimensional images of electrical resistivity derived from electromagnetic geophysical data provide new constraints on the distribution, transport, and storage of water in the Cascadia subduction zone.
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Article |
Fluid transport and storage in the Cascadia forearc influenced by overriding plate lithology
The lithology of the overriding plate plays a critical role in determining fluid transport in subduction zones, according to magnetotelluric imaging of the impact of the dry, mafic Siletzia terrane on fluids in the Cascadia subduction zone, North America.
- Gary D. Egbert
- , Bo Yang
- & Blake Parris
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Article
| Open Access
Grain-size-evolution controls on lithospheric weakening during continental rifting
A reduction in olivine grain size can cause weakening of mantle lithosphere, facilitating continental rifting, according to coupled grain-size-evolution thermo-mechanical modelling of a mantle dynamics.
- J. B. Ruh
- , L. Tokle
- & W. M. Behr
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Article
| Open Access
Lower oceanic crust formed by in situ melt crystallization revealed by seismic layering
The lower oceanic crust forms through the accretion of injected melt that cools and crystallizes in situ over hundreds of thousands of years, according to seismic data from the slow-spreading equatorial Mid-Atlantic Ridge.
- Peng Guo
- , Satish C. Singh
- & Erdinc Saygin
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Article |
Central shutdown and surrounding activation of aftershocks from megathrust earthquake stress transfer
Seismicity close to the rupture surface can shut down for centuries following a megathrust earthquake, while a much larger area surrounding it is activated for decades, according to numerical modelling of the 2011 Tohoku and other megathrust earthquakes.
- Shinji Toda
- & Ross S. Stein
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Article |
Pulses in silicic arc magmatism initiate end-Permian climate instability and extinction
Pulses of silicic arc magmatism—and associated volatile emissions—helped set the timing and magnitude of the environmental disruptions that caused the end-Permian mass extinction, according to U–Pb zircon dating of silicic volcanic and related tephra sequences in eastern Australia.
- Timothy Chapman
- , Luke A. Milan
- & Jim Crowley
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Article |
Plate tectonic chain reaction revealed by noise in the Cretaceous quiet zone
Formation of a subduction zone in the Neotethys Ocean triggered a cascade of plate tectonic events, according to a plate kinematic model constrained by geomagnetic intensity variations.
- Derya Gürer
- , Roi Granot
- & Douwe J. J. van Hinsbergen
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Article |
Accrual of widespread rock damage from the 2019 Ridgecrest earthquakes
Fracture density decays continuously with distance from the fault resulting in regionally widespread damage over multiple earthquake cycles, according to combined maps of fracture, strain and aftershocks from the 2019 Ridgecrest earthquakes.
- Alba M. Rodriguez Padilla
- , Michael E. Oskin
- & Andreas Plesch
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News & Views |
Breaking subductions’ fourth wall
Subduction zone formation may be both horizontally and then vertically driven, according to a 4D evolution model of the Puysegur margin, New Zealand. This suggests that the current endmember classification of subduction initiation must be expanded.
- Fabio Crameri
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Article |
Stress transition from horizontal to vertical forces during subduction initiation
Stress transitions from horizontally forced compression to vertically forced extension during subduction initiation, according to seismic images of the Puysegur plate boundary, New Zealand.
- Brandon Shuck
- , Sean P. S. Gulick
- & Erin Hightower
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News & Views |
Top-down control on water subduction
The structure of the overriding plate may control bending and water ingress into the subducting plate based on an exceptional 3D velocity model of the Nankai subduction zone.
- Donna J. Shillington
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Article |
Upper-plate controls on subduction zone geometry, hydration and earthquake behaviour
Structures in the upper, overriding plate impact the geometry, hydration state and seismogenic region of subduction zones, according to a 3D seismic structural model of the Nankai subduction zone.
- Adrien F. Arnulf
- , Dan Bassett
- & Gregory Moore
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Article |
Dynamics of the abrupt change in Pacific Plate motion around 50 million years ago
Changes in Pacific Plate motion combined near equally with hotspot drift to generate the prominent bend in the Hawaiian–Emperor seamount chain some 50 million years ago, according to kinematic plate reconstruction and global dynamic models.
- Jiashun Hu
- , Michael Gurnis
- & R. Dietmar Müller
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Article |
A record of plume-induced plate rotation triggering subduction initiation
A mantle plume induced plate rotation that initiated subduction and rifting along a >12,000 km plate boundary about 105 Myr ago, according to an analysis of geological data and numerical simulations.
- Douwe J. J. van Hinsbergen
- , Bernhard Steinberger
- & Wim Spakman
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Article |
Rapid recycling of subducted sedimentary carbon revealed by Afghanistan carbonatite volcano
Sedimentary carbon is subducted to, and returned from, mantle depths in less than 27 million years, according strontium isotope analysis and geochronology of lavas from southern Afghanistan.
- Forrest Horton
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Article |
Contribution of background seismicity to forearc uplift
Frequent and dispersed small earthquakes may contribute substantially to uplift of subduction margins, according to an analysis of such seismicity in the Peru–Chile and Japan margins.
- Andrea Madella
- & Todd A. Ehlers
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Article |
Simple shear origin of the cross-faults ruptured in the 2019 Ridgecrest earthquake sequence
Asymmetric rotation of faults in the Eastern California Shear Zone may result from simple shear, according to an analysis of deformation in the area of the 2019 Ridgecrest earthquake sequence in combination with regional geological data.
- Yuri Fialko
- & Zeyu Jin
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Article |
Pre-collisional extension of microcontinental terranes by a subduction pulley
Microcontinents drifting towards a subduction zone can be extended before reaching it by slab pull, not just extended after their accretion, according to numerical simulations supported by geological evidence.
- Erkan Gün
- , Russell N. Pysklywec
- & Gültekin Topuz
Hydrothermal flow and serpentinization in oceanic core complexes controlled by mafic intrusions