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| 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 AccessHot Cordilleran hinterland promoted lower crust mobility and decoupling of Laramide deformation
Researchers test geodynamic models for far-field continental deformation during the Laramide orogeny. New and existing thermal data show that the hot hinterland crust promoted lower crust mobility and crust-mantle decoupling during flat-slab traction.
- Dominik R. Vlaha
- , Andrew V. Zuza
- & Matthieu Harlaux
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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 AccessHigh-latitude platform carbonate deposition constitutes a climate conundrum at the terminal Mesoproterozoic
Deposition of 1.2-billion-year-old Indian limestone in shallow seas near the poles imply balmy conditions of more than 15 °C and significantly higher atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations, which expands the spectrum of Earth’s climatic extremes.
- Michiel O. de Kock
- , Ingrit Malatji
- & L. P. Maré
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Article
| Open AccessShear margins in upper half of Northeast Greenland Ice Stream were established two millennia ago
The flow of ice streams leaves traces in the stratigraphy of the ice sheets. Made visible by radar, they reveal the history of the upper North East Greenland Ice Stream. The ice stream is found to have existed in its current form for only about the last 2000 years.
- Daniela Jansen
- , Steven Franke
- & Paul D. Bons
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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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| 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 AccessMagmatic immiscibility and the origin of magnetite-(apatite) iron deposits
Magnetite-apatite (MtAp) deposits are an important source of iron and critical metals, yet their ore genesis is poorly understood. Here, authors propose that the separation of multiple melts during magma ascent leads to the formation of MtAp deposits.
- Dorota K. Pietruszka
- , John M. Hanchar
- & Wyatt M. Bain
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Article
| Open AccessReconciling patterns of long-term topographic growth with coseismic uplift by synchronous duplex thrusting
Deciphering the relationship between prolonged topographic growth and temporary earthquake uplift is challenging due to the mismatch in their deformation patterns. Zhang et al. introduce a novel model to address this highly hotly-debated discrepancy.
- Yuqing Zhang
- , Hanlin Chen
- & Xiu Hu
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| Open AccessChanges in orogenic style and surface environment recorded in Paleoproterozoic foreland successions
Two different styles of orogenesis during the Neoarchean and Paleoproterozoic are recorded in the depositional-to-deformational evolution of the orogenic foreland of the North China Craton, and would have differently changed the surface environment.
- Bo Huang
- , Man Liu
- & Qunye Qian
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| Open AccessEmplacement of the Argyle diamond deposit into an ancient rift zone triggered by supercontinent breakup
The Argyle deposit erupted 1.3 billion years ago into an ancient rift at the edge of a craton. Argyle coincided with supercontinent breakup, highlighting the link between diamond emplacement, former rifts and continental breakup.
- Hugo K. H. Olierook
- , Denis Fougerouse
- & Michael T. D. Wingate
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| Open AccessLate Cambrian geomagnetic instability after the onset of inner core nucleation
An 80 thousand-year-long period of extreme non-geocentric dipole magnetic fields is recorded in Late Cambrian carbonate rocks of South China, suggesting that 495 million years ago Earth’s inner core had not grown large enough to stabilize the dynamo.
- Yong-Xiang Li
- , John A. Tarduno
- & Zhenyu Yang
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| 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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| Open AccessNew constraints on Cenozoic subduction between India and Tibet
By evaluating model predictions with multiple geological data, the study shows that Tibetan tectonism is most consistent with the initial indentation of a cratonic terrane, followed by subduction of a buoyant tectonic plate resembling a continental margin.
- Liang Liu
- , Lijun Liu
- & Ling Chen
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| Open AccessMid-latitudinal habitable environment for marine eukaryotes during the waning stage of the Marinoan snowball glaciation
Based on geochemical and paleontological data, this study shows that habitable open-oceans extended to mid-latitude coastal oceans during the waning stage of the Marinoan snowball Earth, offering refugia for benthic photosynthetic eukaryotes
- Huyue Song
- , Zhihui An
- & Jinnan Tong
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Article
| Open AccessWidespread natural methane and oil leakage from sub-marine Arctic reservoirs
Barents Sea shelf experienced >30 episodes of glaciation which scraped off layers of rocks and led to petroleum reservoirs exposed onto the seafloor. Today, such uncapped reservoirs produce strong fluxes of methane gas and oil into the ocean.
- Pavel Serov
- , Rune Mattingsdal
- & Karin Andreassen
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Article
| Open AccessEoarchean and Hadean melts reveal arc-like trace element and isotopic signatures
Geochemical analysis indicates a formational regime for Jack Hills zircons that is lithologically diverse and chemically similar to modern arcs. This depicts complicated geodynamics of the early Earth, which is currently proposed by many as stagnant-lid.
- Wriju Chowdhury
- , Dustin Trail
- & Paul Savage
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Matters Arising
| Open AccessReply to: Silica is unlikely to be soluble in upper crustal carbonatite melts
- Jasper Berndt
- & Stephan Klemme
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Article
| Open AccessGreenstone burial–exhumation cycles at the late Archean transition to plate tectonics
Supracrustal rocks of the Yilgarn orogen underwent deep burial, and later syn-shortening exhumation. Archean exhumation processes were likely less efficient that today, so that complete exhumation of high-pressure rocks was rare and accidental.
- Zibra Ivan
- , Kemp Anthony I S
- & Romano Sandra S
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| Open AccessPassive margins in accreting Archaean archipelagos signal continental stability promoting early atmospheric oxygen rise
This research reports a 2.5-billion year-old passive margin formed in accreting archipelagos, highlighting the contribution of early continent formation and the relationship between continental stabilization and early atmospheric oxygen rise.
- Yaying Peng
- , Timothy Kusky
- & Noreen J. Evans
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| Open AccessSubduction-related oxidation of the sublithospheric mantle evidenced by ferropericlase and magnesiowüstite diamond inclusions
This article reports finding of a highly oxidised mineral in diamond inclusion derived from mantle transition zone or lower mantle, very reduced areas on our planet. Such oxidised material is likely linked to subduction of carbonates into this region.
- Ekaterina S. Kiseeva
- , Nester Korolev
- & Leonid Dubrovinsky
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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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| 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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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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| 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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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 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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| 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 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 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 AccessSulfur and chlorine budgets control the ore fertility of arc magmas
Earth’s largest copper deposits form in continental arcs, yet it is not well understood what determines whether a magmatic system generates economic mineralization or not. Here the authors show that the abundance of chlorine and sulfur, rather than the abundance of ore metals controls magmatic ore fertility.
- Carter Grondahl
- & Zoltán Zajacz
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Article
| Open AccessNanoparticle suspensions from carbon-rich fluid make high-grade gold deposits
The authors present novel observations providing insights into the formation of extraordinary gold-rich veins. We discovered metal nanoparticles associated with amorphous silica and carbon indicating their essential contribution to efficient gold deposition.
- Laura Petrella
- , Nicolas Thébaud
- & Sarah Gain
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| Open AccessDuctile deformation during carbonation of serpentinized peridotite
Mantle rocks can efficiently bind carbon by reaction with CO2 if fluid pathways remain open. This study of samples from Oman demonstrates that coupling of synchronous reaction and deformation facilitates fluid flow and massive carbon sequestration.
- Manuel D. Menzel
- , Janos L. Urai
- & Peter B. Kelemen
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| Open AccessThe cryptic seismic potential of the Pichilemu blind fault in Chile revealed by off-fault geomorphology
Cryptic faults concern earthquake scientists, since they pose a hidden seismic potential which is hard to identify. To address this, the authors here study off-fault deformed geomorphic markers such as marine terraces using high-resolution LiDAR topography, optical dating of sediments and space geodetic observations.
- J. Jara-Muñoz
- , D. Melnick
- & M. R. Strecker
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| Open AccessOxidation of Archean upper mantle caused by crustal recycling
The basalt V-Ti redox proxy indicates that both of the Archean ambient and modified mantle exhibit a ~1.0 log unit increase in their evolution for most cratons, possibly derived by widespread crustal recycling.
- Lei Gao
- , Shuwen Liu
- & Yalu Hu
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| Open AccessAstronomical tuning of the Aptian stage and its implications for age recalibrations and paleoclimatic events
The Early Cretaceous Aptian stage represents an interval of major dramatic climate changes, but there is no consensus on its lower boundary age. Here, the authors present an astro-chronological framework that offers new age constraints on the onset and duration of Aptian ocean anoxic events and the ‘cold snap’, among other significant climatic events.
- C. G. Leandro
- , J. F. Savian
- & R. I. F. Trindade
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| Open Access22 years of satellite imagery reveal a major destabilization structure at Piton de la Fournaise
At Piton de la Fournaise volcano, satellite deformation allows to constrain the geometry of 57 magmatic intrusions. Versatile modeling reveals that a major spoon-shaped destabilization structure accommodates intrusions and seaward flank displacement.
- Quentin Dumont
- , Valérie Cayol
- & Aline Peltier
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| Open AccessA strength inversion origin for non-volcanic tremor
Subduction plate boundaries have enigmatic seismic tremor that is often associated with surges in creep across these boundaries. Here, the authors use multiple approaches to show how blocks of weak rocks in a stronger matrix can explain both the occurrence and characteristics of tremor events.
- Paola Vannucchi
- , Alexander Clarke
- & Jason P. Morgan
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Article
| Open AccessSynchronizing rock clocks in the late Cambrian
The Cambrian is the most poorly dated period of the past 541 million years. Here, the authors present a new astronomical time scale, allowing for a first assessment, in numerical time, of the evolution of major biotic and abiotic changes that characterized the late Cambrian Earth.
- Zhengfu Zhao
- , Nicolas R. Thibault
- & Arne T. Nielsen
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| Open AccessPace of passive margin tectonism revealed by U-Pb dating of fracture-filling calcite
It is thought that Atlantic style passive margins have experienced episodes of uplift and volcanism in response to changes in mantle circulation. The authors here employ U-Pb dating of calcite in faults and fractures along the eastern North American margin and find a 40 Myr long period of fracturing and faulting from 115 to 75 Ma.
- William H. Amidon
- , Andrew R. C. Kylander-Clark
- & David P. West Jr.
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Article
| Open AccessAlpine permafrost could account for a quarter of thawed carbon based on Plio-Pleistocene paleoclimate analogue
The stability of permafrost carbon is poorly understood. Here the authors use Plio-Pleistocene clumped isotope reconstructions from the Tibetan Plateau and climate simulation to determine that ~85 petagrams of alpine carbon is vulnerable to thawing.
- Feng Cheng
- , Carmala Garzione
- & Aradhna Tripati
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Article
| Open AccessEpisodic back-arc spreading centre jumps controlled by transform fault to overriding plate strength ratio
Back-arc spreading centre jumps have been suggested to be controlled by a number of different drivers. Here, the authors, using 3D numerical models, show that transform faults can trigger back-arc spreading centre jumps, without the need of any ad hoc factors.
- Nicholas Schliffke
- , Jeroen van Hunen
- & Frédéric Gueydan
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Article
| Open AccessMobilisation of deep crustal sulfide melts as a first order control on upper lithospheric metallogeny
The presence and mobility of metal-rich sulfides in lower crustal magma chambers can act as a gateway for metals to be trapped, or released into ascending magmas that are then able to form upper crustal porphyry copper and gold deposits.
- David A. Holwell
- , Marco L. Fiorentini
- & Weronika Gorczyk
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Article
| Open AccessFault rock heterogeneity can produce fault weakness and reduce fault stability
This paper shows that faults comprised of heterogeneously distributed materials, as is typical for tectonic faults in nature, are weaker and more unstable than equivalent faults where the materials are homogeneously mixed together.
- John D. Bedford
- , Daniel R. Faulkner
- & Nadia Lapusta
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Article
| Open AccessExtensive primary production promoted the recovery of the Ediacaran Shuram excursion
Variable dominance of distinct microbial communities during the late Ediacaran, recorded in C and N cycles perturbations and in Raman structural heterogeneities of organic matter, modulated the recovery from the most negative δ13Ccarb excursion in Earth’s history.
- Fuencisla Cañadas
- , Dominic Papineau
- & Chao Li
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Article
| Open AccessDecreasing extents of Archean serpentinization contributed to the rise of an oxidized atmosphere
Throughout the Archean, H2 generation via low-temperature ultramafic serpentinization likely helped prevent atmospheric O2 accumulation and continued until the abundance of ultramafic rocks diminished setting the stage for the Great Oxidation Event.
- James Andrew M. Leong
- , Tucker Ely
- & Everett L. Shock
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Article
| Open AccessUppermost crustal structure regulates the flow of the Greenland Ice Sheet
Anomalously slow seismic velocities in the upper Greenlandic crust reveal soft sedimentary substrates beneath major outlet glaciers. This, together with elevated geothermal heat flux observed at the onset of fast ice flow, has major implications for ice-sheet dynamics.
- G. A. Jones
- , A. M. G. Ferreira
- & A. Morelli
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| Open AccessSouthward expanding plate coupling due to variation in sediment subduction as a cause of Andean growth
Climate and tectonics control the distribution of trench sediments which in turn exerts a strong influence on tectonics by controlling the coupling strength of plate interface. This process could have caused the southward growth of the Andes.
- Jiashun Hu
- , Lijun Liu
- & Michael Gurnis