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| Open AccessPressure stabilizes ferrous iron in bridgmanite under hydrous deep lower mantle conditions
The large low-shear-velocity anomalies in the deep lower mantle below 2300 km depth may relate to H2O-induced ferrous iron stability in bridgmanite, according to laser-heated diamond anvil cell experiments.
- Li Zhang
- , Yongjin Chen
- & Ho-kwang Mao
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Article
| Open AccessEarly planetesimal differentiation and late accretion shaped Earth’s nitrogen budget
The late veneer impacts Earth’s nitrogen budget while exhibiting limited effects on other volatile elements, according to first-principles calculations of N-isotope fractionation during Earth’s accretion and differentiation.
- Wenzhong Wang
- , Michael J. Walter
- & Shichun Huang
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Article
| Open AccessA HIMU-like component in Mariana Convergent Margin magma sources during initial arc rifting revealed by melt inclusions
HIMU-type seamounts may be subducted elsewhere beneath the Mariana arc, but obvious HIMU-type components appear only in the initial stages of arc rifting due to the low melting degree and being consumed during the process of back-arc spreading.
- Xiaohui Li
- , Osamu Ishizuka
- & Hongxia Yu
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Article
| Open AccessOverlooked shelf sediment reductive sinks of dissolved rhenium and uranium in the modern ocean
The sources and sinks of Re and U in the modern ocean may be imbalanced, according to sedimentary porewater analysis and assessment of reductive Re and U removal on the continental shelf
- Qingquan Hong
- , Yilin Cheng
- & Tianyu Chen
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Article
| Open AccessEast European sedimentary basins long heated by a fading mantle upwelling
Since the Jurassic, East European basins have likely been situated over a weakening mantle upwelling, which heated the basins and created suitable conditions for hydrocarbon maturation, according to geodata combined with modelling.
- Alik Ismail-Zadeh
- , Anne Davaille
- & Yuri Volozh
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Article
| Open AccessWarming drives dissolved organic carbon export from pristine alpine soils
The temperature-sensitivity of soil dissolved organic carbon (DOC) export is widely debated but limited by the duration of observations. New data from environmental archives supports a pronounced sensitivity between soil DOC leaching and warming.
- Andrew R. Pearson
- , Bethany R. S. Fox
- & Adam Hartland
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Article
| Open AccessQuantum critical phase of FeO spans conditions of Earth’s lower mantle
Large-scale eDMFT computation reveals that FeO undergoes a gradual orbitally selective insulator-metal transition across the extreme conditions of Earth’s interior, with implications for compositions and conductivity of the core-mantle boundary region.
- Wai-Ga D. Ho
- , Peng Zhang
- & Vasilije V. Dobrosavljevic
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Article
| Open AccessIron alloys of volatile elements in the deep Earth’s interior
Many volatile elements are depleted in the bulk silicate Earth. Here, the authors found that these volatile elements tend to react with Fe under pressure and may be sequestered within Earth’s core by forming substitutional Fe alloys.
- Yifan Tian
- , Peiyu Zhang
- & Hanyu Liu
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Article
| Open AccessEuropium in plagioclase-hosted melt inclusions reveals mantle melting modulates oxygen fugacity
Distributions of the multivalent element Europium are used to recover the partial pressure of oxygen from basaltic mantle melt inclusions trapped in plagioclase crystals, suggesting Earth’s mantle is reduced by partial melting.
- Nicholas Dygert
- , Gokce K. Ustunisik
- & Roger L. Nielsen
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Article
| Open AccessLate Paleozoic oxygenation of marine environments supported by dolomite U-Pb dating
A proxy is developed for oxygen levels in seawater, based on U-Pb dating of dolomite. It shows a step-increase in O2 400 million years ago, suggesting that oceans were largely oxygen-limited at the ‘dawn’ of animal life.
- Michal Ben-Israel
- , Robert M. Holder
- & Uri Ryb
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Article
| Open AccessNitrogen and phosphorus trends in lake sediments of China may diverge
Nutrient levels in Chinese lakes have rapidly increased since 1950 but future trends in lacustrine nitrogen and phosphorus across China will differentiate, according to projections up to 2100.
- Panpan Ji
- , Jianhui Chen
- & Fahu Chen
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Matters Arising
| Open AccessReply to: Field experiments show no consistent reductions in soil microbial carbon in response to warming
- Guillaume Patoine
- , Nico Eisenhauer
- & Carlos A. Guerra
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Article
| Open AccessModern anthropogenic drought in Central Brazil unprecedented during last 700 years
Speleothems from the Savanna region in Brazil documents the occurrence of an unprecedented long-term drought driven by anthropogenic forcing. Staring in the 1970´s the current drought is the most severe that has struck the region in the past 700 years.
- Nicolas Misailidis Stríkis
- , Plácido Fabrício Silva Melo Buarque
- & Valdir Felipe Novello
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Article
| Open AccessHuman-triggered magnification of erosion rates in European Alps since the Bronze Age
Using a lake sediment core taken from the European Alps and combining a source-sink approach with isotope geochemistry, it has been established that the effects of human activities have outweighed those of climate on erosion for more than 3800 years.
- William Rapuc
- , Charline Giguet-Covex
- & Fabien Arnaud
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Article
| Open AccessStructure and elasticity of CaC2O5 suggests carbonate contribution to the seismic anomalies of Earth’s mantle
Based on first-principle simulations of the properties of CaC2O5 under high pressure, the authors suggest that carbonates may contribute to the origins of the seismic velocity anomalies in Earth’s mantle and transport within the deep carbon cycle.
- Hanyu Wang
- , Lei Liu
- & Shide Mao
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Article
| Open AccessArchaean continental crust formed from mafic cumulates
Earth’s early continental crust formed by the melting of plagioclase-cumulates. Melting of these rocks, and subsequent crustal delamination and remelting, can explain the growth and differentiation of the continental crust during the Archaean.
- Matthijs A. Smit
- , Kira A. Musiyachenko
- & Jeroen Goumans
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Article
| Open AccessSalinity causes widespread restriction of methane emissions from small inland waters
Small inland water bodies are widely seen as important sources of methane to the atmosphere. This study demonstrates that hardwater ecosystems emit less of this potent greenhouse gas than predicted due to complex biogeochemical controls
- Cynthia Soued
- , Matthew J. Bogard
- & Paige Kowal
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Article
| Open AccessOxide nanolitisation-induced melt iron extraction causes viscosity jumps and enhanced explosivity in silicic magma
Oxide nanolites crystallisation in natural magma increases melt, and hence bulk magma viscosity mainly due to iron extraction. This increase can be sufficient to drive magma fragmentation depending on magma degassing and ascent dynamics.
- Francisco Cáceres
- , Kai-Uwe Hess
- & Donald B. Dingwell
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Article
| Open AccessThermal responses of dissolved organic matter under global change
The response of organic molecules to climate change is linked to warming, nutrient loading, and greenhouse gas emissions, according to an indicator developed to quantify the aggregated thermal response of individual organic molecules.
- Ang Hu
- , Kyoung-Soon Jang
- & Jianjun Wang
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| Open AccessNanoscale silicate melt textures determine volcanic ash surface chemistry
Nanotexture-sensitive fracture focusing during magma fragmentation determines the surface chemistry of volcanic ash particles, thereby modifying the reactive interface and subsequent environmental impacts
- Adrian J. Hornby
- , Paul M. Ayris
- & Donald B. Dingwell
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Article
| Open AccessMethane-hydrogen-rich fluid migration may trigger seismic failure in subduction zones at forearc depths
This study provides evidence for the migration of deep energy sources along tectonic discontinuities in subduction zones and suggests causal relationships with brittle failure of hard rocks that may trigger seismic activity.
- Francesco Giuntoli
- , Luca Menegon
- & Alberto Vitale Brovarone
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| Open AccessTransient fertilization of a post-Sturtian Snowball ocean margin with dissolved phosphate by clay minerals
Clay minerals played a vital role in the delivery of phosphorus (P) to shallow Neoproterozoic post-Snowball glaciation marine waters. The resulting increase in P bioavailability by at least 20-fold coincided with seawater oxygenation.
- Ernest Chi Fru
- , Jalila Al Bahri
- & Timothy W. Lyons
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| Open AccessWidespread PREMA in the upper mantle indicated by low-degree basaltic melts
PREMA, the highly fusible Prevalent Mantle now found throughout the mantle, may have been generated soon after Earth’s accretion with minimal subsequent modification, according to a combination of composition data from Cenozoic sodic basalts and mantle convection simulations
- Ronghua Cai
- , Jingao Liu
- & Senan Oesch
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Article
| Open AccessVertical tearing of subducting plates controlled by geometry and rheology of oceanic plates
Vertical tearing promotes continuous segmentation of subducting plates, but its dynamics and physical controls remain debated. This work indicates that trench geometry and plate rheology control the self-sustained process of vertical tearing.
- Yaguang Chen
- , Hanlin Chen
- & Taras Gerya
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Article
| Open AccessComprehensive mapping of lunar surface chemistry by adding Chang'e-5 samples with deep learning
In this study, the authors map the lunar surface chemistry. They achieve this through a combination of deep learning and actual samples from the Chinese Chang’e-5 mission.
- Chen Yang
- , Xinmei Zhang
- & Ziyuan Ouyang
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Article
| Open AccessClimate warming and elevated CO2 alter peatland soil carbon sources and stability
No inherently stable peat soil carbon. Researchers found that all molecular components of peatland soil organic carbon responded to warming and eCO2, including the components presumed to be slow cycling and stable.
- Nicholas O. E. Ofiti
- , Michael W. I. Schmidt
- & Avni Malhotra
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Article
| Open AccessMercury deposition and redox transformation processes in peatland constrained by mercury stable isotopes
Mercury isotope signatures in groundwater, soil gas, solid peat, and atmosphere suggest that dark abiotic reduction of peat soil HgII to volatile Hg0 does not play a significant role in mobilizing Hg during peat mass loss
- Chuxian Li
- , Martin Jiskra
- & Kevin Bishop
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Article
| Open AccessNear-surface magma flow instability drives cyclic lava fountaining at Fagradalsfjall, Iceland
This study of volcanic gas chemistry during pulsatory lava fountaining at Fagradalsfjall volcano in Iceland reveals that the intermittency stems from pressure cycles and gas-melt separation within a shallow magma-filled cavity.
- Samuel Scott
- , Melissa Pfeffer
- & Andri Stefánsson
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Article
| Open AccessThreefold coordinated germanium in a GeO2 melt
The structure of GeO2 melt has been debated for decades due to several unexplained bands present in the GeO2 melt Raman spectra. Here authors present a promising way to analyse melt structures from Raman spectra and they demonstrate threefold coordinated germanium is formed in the GeO2 melt.
- Songming Wan
- , Shujie Zhang
- & Jinglin You
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Article
| Open AccessDiamond preservation in the lithospheric mantle recorded by olivine in kimberlites
Correlation between olivine compositions and diamond grades in kimberlites worldwide indicates better diamond preservation in the mantle minimally affected by carbonate-rich melts and shows that olivine geochemistry is a tool for diamond exploration.
- Andrea Giuliani
- , David Phillips
- & Zdislav Spetsius
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Article
| Open AccessDissolved organic matter thiol concentrations determine methylmercury bioavailability across the terrestrial-marine aquatic continuum
Methylmercury is a strong neurotoxin that accumulates in aquatic biota. Here, the authors demonstrate that the concentration of thiol compounds associated with dissolved organic matter controls the bioavailability of methylmercury in aquatic systems
- Emily Seelen
- , Van Liem-Nguyen
- & Erik Björn
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Matters Arising
| Open AccessReply to: Reported ultra-low lava viscosities from the 2021 La Palma eruption are potentially biased
- J. M. Castro
- & Y. Feisel
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Article
| Open AccessRapid transition from primary to secondary crust building on the Moon explained by mantle overturn
Overturn of late stage lunar magma ocean cumulates triggers a rapid & short-lived episode of lower mantle melting that explains the key volume, geochronological, & spatial characteristics of the earliest secondary crust on the Moon (Mg-suite).
- Tabb C. Prissel
- , Nan Zhang
- & Haoyuan Li
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Article
| Open AccessRiver export of macro- and microplastics to seas by sources worldwide
Modelling of riverine plastic exports finds microplastics dominate in areas with many sewage systems and macroplastics where waste is mismanaged. In some areas both plastics are important. Reduction at source is needed.
- Maryna Strokal
- , Paul Vriend
- & Tim van Emmerik
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Article
| Open AccessMulti-proxy evidence for sea level fall at the onset of the Eocene-Oligocene transition
Sea level fall with the growth of the Antarctic Ice Sheet 34 million years ago, and the shift in nutrients and carbon from continental margins to the ocean, initially provided a negative feedback that slowed global cooling and ice sheet expansion.
- Marcelo A. De Lira Mota
- , Tom Dunkley Jones
- & James Bendle
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Article
| Open AccessBasin record of a Miocene lithosphere drip beneath the Colorado Plateau
He & Kapp link an ancient basin high on the Colorado Plateau to lithospheric dripping deep beneath it. They show that this ephemeral process is visible not only via geophysical snapshots in the present, but also leaves imprints in the geologic record.
- John J. Y. He
- & Paul Kapp
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Article
| Open AccessSulfate triple-oxygen-isotope evidence confirming oceanic oxygenation 570 million years ago
Seawater sulfate in three different paleocontinents all became conspicuously depleted in 17O mass anomalously around 570 million years ago, confirming a global oceanic oxygenation event directly linked to the involvement of paleo-atmospheric O2.
- Haiyang Wang
- , Yongbo Peng
- & Huiming Bao
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Article
| Open AccessNew constraints on Ti diffusion in quartz and the priming of silicic volcanic eruptions
Titanium diffusion profiles in quartz record the duration of magmatic processes. Here, the authors use a novel way to constrain Ti diffusion coefficients and apply them to determine the time scales involved in the priming of volcanic eruptions.
- Andreas Audétat
- , Axel K. Schmitt
- & Yongjun Lu
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| Open AccessEvidence for compositionally distinct upper mantle plumelets since the early history of the Tristan-Gough hotspot
Geochemical zonation of the Tristan-Gough hotspot track has been demonstrated for the conjugate Rio Grande Rise on the South American Plate, suggesting geochemically distinct Tristan and Gough plumelets existed since the plume head/tail transition.
- Stephan Homrighausen
- , Kaj Hoernle
- & Jörg Geldmacher
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Article
| Open AccessRecurrent photic zone euxinia limited ocean oxygenation and animal evolution during the Ediacaran
Using Hg isotopes, the authors find that repeated invasion of toxic, H2S-rich water into the marine photic zone of the Ediacaran ocean may have inhibited the rise of oxygen and delayed the expansion of early animals.
- Wang Zheng
- , Anwen Zhou
- & Jiubin Chen
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Article
| Open AccessMagmatic surge requires two-stage model for the Laramide orogeny
New and existing age data show active arc processes in Southern California during the beginning of the Laramide orogeny, which require a two-stage process and challenge the oceanic plateau collision paradigm.
- Joshua J. Schwartz
- , Jade Star Lackey
- & Jonathan D. Bixler
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Article
| Open AccessSurges in volcanic activity on the Moon about two billion years ago
This work estimates the eruption volume of the young Chang’e-5 lunar samples using diffusion chronology and thermodynamic simulations, and finds that there was an increase in volcanic eruption flux about 2.0 billion years ago.
- Heng-Ci Tian
- , Chi Zhang
- & Fuyuan Wu
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Article
| Open AccessNO at low concentration can enhance the formation of highly oxygenated biogenic molecules in the atmosphere
Nitrogen monoxide at low concentrations can promote the formation of highly oxygenated organic molecules, which are crucial precursors to secondary organic aerosol (SOA), rather than inhibit it as traditionally thought.
- Wei Nie
- , Chao Yan
- & Aijun Ding
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Article
| Open AccessComparing ecosystem gaseous elemental mercury fluxes over a deciduous and coniferous forest
Forests are sinks for the neurotoxic mercury, but the sinks have large uncertainties. Our direct gaseous elemental mercury (GEM) exchange measurements show that GEM exchange includes complex patterns of multiple pathways to different ecosystem compartments varying over time
- Jun Zhou
- , Silas W. Bollen
- & Daniel Obrist
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Article
| Open AccessSeismically imaged lithospheric delamination and its controls on the Mesozoic Magmatic Province in South China
Lithospheric delamination is seismically imaged in the asthenosphere and is responsible for the lithospheric modification and the formation of a Mesozoic Basin and Range-style magmatic province in South China by joint analysis of geochemical data.
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- Haijiang Zhang
- , Qing-Tian Lü
- & Zeng-Qian Hou
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Article
| Open AccessPhosphate availability and implications for life on ocean worlds
Is phosphorous a limiting factor for life on ocean worlds (e.g. Europa and Enceladus)? Calculated dissolved phosphate concentrations from a wide range of possible water-rock reactions suggest cell populations larger than those observed in Earth’s deep oceans could be supported.
- Noah G. Randolph-Flagg
- , Tucker Ely
- & Tori M. Hoehler
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Article
| Open AccessCentennial scale sequences of environmental deterioration preceded the end-Permian mass extinction
The exact drivers for the end-Permian mass extinction remain controversial. This study reveals a turning point with the exhaustion of the terrestrial input and a strong fertilization of the marine realm leading to the demise of marine ecosystems.
- Ryosuke Saito
- , Lars Wörmer
- & Kai-Uwe Hinrichs
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Article
| Open AccessGhost-arc geochemical anomaly at a spreading ridge caused by supersized flat subduction
The Southern Atlantic-Southwest Indian ridges hold mid-ocean ridge basalts with a residual subduction-related geochemical signature, whose origin is unsolved. The study suggests a link to a subduction-modified mantle transported inland >2280 km by a large-scale flat slab event.
- Guido M. Gianni
- , Jeremías Likerman
- & Sergio Zlotnik
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Comment
| Open AccessVolcanic Island lightning prebiotic chemistry and the origin of life in the early Hadean eon
The early Hadean eon (>4Ga) may have had a periodically ice-covered global ocean and limited subaerial landmass, and this could have resulted in infrequent lightning occurrence. This infrequency of lightning may have limited the synthesis of prebiotic compounds necessary for life’s origins. Here I present a hypothesis that lightning associated with volcanic island eruptions created focal points for the generation of prebiotic ingredients and ultimately the origin of life.
- Jeffrey L. Bada