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| Open AccessComplex tsunamigenic near-trench seafloor deformation during the 2011 Tohoku–Oki earthquake
Striking spatial heterogeneity of the shallow rupture behaviour is revealed for the near-trench region in the 2011 Tohoku–Oki earthquake. Significant off-fault deformation is suggested to play a predominant role in near-trench tsunami excitation.
- Zhang Kai
- , Wang Yanru
- & Wu Ziyin
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| Open AccessLava dome cycles reveal rise and fall of magma column at Popocatépetl volcano
Satellite imagery enhanced with deep learning sheds light on the mechanisms driving lava dome construction-destruction cycles. Results suggest that gas retention and escape from the magma system control the dome and crater morphological evolution.
- Sébastien Valade
- , Diego Coppola
- & Servando De la Cruz-Reyna
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| Open AccessPorosity evolution of mafic crystal mush during reactive flow
In this study, the authors use a thermodynamically constrained model of melt-mush reaction to simulate the chemical, mineralogical, and physical consequences of reactive flow in a multi-component mush system.
- Matthew L. M. Gleeson
- , C. Johan Lissenberg
- & Paula M. Antoshechkina
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| Open AccessClimate-controlled submarine landslides on the Antarctic continental margin
Changes in climate preconditioned large-scale, recurrent Miocene to Pleistocene Antarctic submarine landslides through variations in biological productivity, ice proximity and ocean circulation, posing tsunami risk to Southern Hemisphere populations.
- Jenny A. Gales
- , Robert M. McKay
- & Zhifang Xiong
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Article
| Open AccessMantle heterogeneity caused by trapped water in the Southwest Basin of the South China Sea
This study suggests that the observed shear-velocity reduction beneath the southern side of the Southwest Sub-basin (SWSB) of the South China Sea (SCS) may be due to the presence of 150–300 ppm of water and 5–10% of lower continental crust.
- Jinyu Tian
- , Zhitu Ma
- & Laiyin Guo
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| 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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| Open AccessCrystal orientation fabric anisotropy causes directional hardening of the Northeast Greenland Ice Stream
This study uses radio-echo sounding measurements, ice-core data and models to map the spatial variation in ice-crystal orientation in the northeast Greenland Ice Stream and shows how it potentially affects the ice-flow dynamics in this region.
- Tamara Annina Gerber
- , David A. Lilien
- & Olaf Eisen
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Article
| Open AccessSouthern Tibetan rifting since late Miocene enabled by basal shear of the underthrusting Indian lithosphere
This study presents constraints on seismic anisotropy properties in western-central Tibet, revealing pronounced north-directed basal shearing beneath the rifts in the southern plateau that sheds light on the cause of syncontractional extension there.
- Bingfeng Zhang
- , Xuewei Bao
- & Wencai Yang
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| Open AccessRevised Minoan eruption volume as benchmark for large volcanic eruptions
The authors use seismic and sedimentology data to estimate the volume of the Minoan eruption. The results show that the Plinian phase contributed most to the distal tephra fall, and that the pyroclastic flow volume is significantly smaller than previously assumed.
- Jens Karstens
- , Jonas Preine
- & Christian Berndt
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Article
| Open AccessDeep learning forecast of rainfall-induced shallow landslides
How much rain does it take to trigger a landslide? This work shows that deep learning can identify the driving forces that can cause rainfall induced landslides, opening up the possibility of forecasting landslide events over large areas
- Alessandro C. Mondini
- , Fausto Guzzetti
- & Massimo Melillo
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| Open AccessSediment delivery to sustain the Ganges-Brahmaputra delta under climate change and anthropogenic impacts
The potential for enhanced sediment delivery to the Ganges-Brahmaputra delta exists, but it alone is insufficient to sustain the system. The delta may be resilient to climate change, but only in the absence of dam construction and water diversions.
- Jessica L. Raff
- , Steven L. Goodbred Jr.
- & Lauren A. Williams
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| Open AccessLaboratory earthquakes decipher control and stability of rupture speeds
Earthquake rupture speeds significantly impact seismic hazards. Here, authors report laboratory earthquake experiments reproducing early and stable subEshelby supershear ruptures, and unlocking the correlation between rupture speed and driving load.
- Peng Dong
- , Kaiwen Xia
- & Jean-Paul Ampuero
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| Open AccessRiver thorium concentrations can record bedrock fracture processes including some triggered by distant seismic events
Daily measurements of the river concentration of the ultra-trace element thorium (Th) can provide a novel signature of bedrock fracture processes
- Benjamin Gilbert
- , Sergio Carrero
- & Kenneth H. Williams
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| Open AccessDueling dynamics of low-angle normal fault rupture with splay faulting and off-fault damage
Tectonic plates slide past each other along faults in the Earth’s crust. Here, the authors develop physics-based computer simulations of these earthquakes to study how, where and by which processes the crust moves during such events.
- J. Biemiller
- , A.-A. Gabriel
- & T. Ulrich
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| Open AccessInadequacy of fluvial energetics for describing gravity current autosuspension
This study shows that the total energy loss of gravity currents has a non-linear dependence on the work required to keep sediment in suspension, highlighting the importance of large-scale mixing for the particulate transport of gravity currents.
- Sojiro Fukuda
- , Marijke G. W. de Vet
- & Robert M. Dorrell
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| 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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| Open AccessSeismic magnitude clustering is prevalent in field and laboratory catalogs
Clustering of earthquake magnitudes is actively debated. Here, the authors show statistically significant magnitude clustering present in many different field and laboratory catalogs at a wide range of spatial scales (mm to 1000 km).
- Q. Xiong
- , M. R. Brudzinski
- & J. C. Hampton
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| Open AccessThe fragmentation-induced fluidisation of pyroclastic density currents
Fragmentation-induced fluidization occurs in concentrated pyroclastic density currents where rapid particle breakage causes flow compaction and subsequent high pore fluid pressure, reducing friction and explaining their long runout.
- Eric C. P. Breard
- , Josef Dufek
- & Braden Walsh
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Article
| Open AccessHidden vulnerability of US Atlantic coast to sea-level rise due to vertical land motion
This study presents a 3,500 km vertical land motion map for the US Atlantic coast, showing that different land covers (from developed areas to wetlands) are losing elevation, with rates up to 3 mm per year.
- Leonard O. Ohenhen
- , Manoochehr Shirzaei
- & Matthew L. Kirwan
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| 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
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| Open AccessFast and slow intraplate ruptures during the 19 October 2020 magnitude 7.6 Shumagin earthquake
The 19 Oct 2020 MW 7.6 Shumagin earthquake involved unprecedented source complexity with two fast ruptures straddling the megathrust and strong tsunami excitation from a long-duration upper plate thrust rupture undetected by seismic and geodetic data.
- Yefei Bai
- , Chengli Liu
- & Yoshiki Yamazaki
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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 AccessEarly indicators of tidal ecosystem shifts in estuaries
Transitions from bare tidal flats to vegetated marshes are an example of shift between alternative stable ecosystem states. Here, the authors use remote sensing and modelling to quantify three stages in tidal flat evolution and identify early warning signals.
- Gregory S. Fivash
- , Stijn Temmerman
- & Tjeerd J. Bouma
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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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| Open AccessElectron transfer rules of minerals under pressure informed by machine learning
Li and coworkers quantitatively evaluate the tendency and direction of electron transfer in the deep Earth using a machine learning method to predict the electronegativity of atoms and work function of minerals under pressure.
- Yanzhang Li
- , Hongyu Wang
- & Anhuai Lu
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| 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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| Open AccessSeismic evidence for a 1000 km mantle discontinuity under the Pacific
This study uses reverse-time migration full-waveform seismic imaging to reveal a thinned transition zone and a 1000-km mid-mantle discontinuity under the Pacific near Hawaii which they link to the upper boundary of upwelling plume material.
- Zhendong Zhang
- , Jessica C. E. Irving
- & Tariq Alkhalifah
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| Open AccessSuperionic effect and anisotropic texture in Earth’s inner core driven by geomagnetic field
Earth’s inner core is heterogeneous and anisotropic. A new study based on computational simulation reveals the presence of ionic hydrogen flux in iron crystals, driven by the dipole geomagnetic field, which promotes the formation of observed inner core structure.
- Shichuan Sun
- , Yu He
- & Ho-kwang Mao
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| Open Access2019 M7.1 Ridgecrest earthquake slip distribution controlled by fault geometry inherited from Independence dike swarm
Faults responsible for the 2019 M7.1 Ridgecrest, California earthquake likely evolved through reactivation of pre-existing Independence dike swarm structures. The inherited rupture geometry strongly controlled the earthquake slip distribution.
- Johanna M. Nevitt
- , Benjamin A. Brooks
- & Brad T. Aagaard
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| Open AccessGenesis of Hawaiian lavas by crystallization of picritic magma in the deep mantle
Here the authors demonstrate that Hawaiian lavas are formed by partial melting of mantle peridotite with subsequent fractionation of clinopyroxene and garnet in the deep magma chamber (90 km) and reequilibration with harzburgite at a shallower depth (<60 km).
- Junlong Yang
- , Chao Wang
- & Zhenmin Jin
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| Open AccessMolecular fingerprints resolve affinities of Rhynie chert organic fossils
It can be challenging to identify extinct organisms with morphology alone. Here, the authors use non-destructive Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy to determine the molecular fingerprints of eukaryotes and prokaryotes from the 407 Ma Rhynie chert fossil assemblage of Aberdeenshire, Scotland.
- C. C. Loron
- , E. Rodriguez Dzul
- & S. McMahon
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| Open AccessRemnant of the late Permian superplume that generated the Siberian Traps inferred from geomagnetic data
Discovering ancient mantle plumes is challenging. By combining electrical conductivity with mineral physics modelling, this work finds a remnant of an ancient plume trapped in the mantle transition zone and sheds new light on mantle plume physics.
- Shiwen Li
- , Yabin Li
- & Aihua Weng
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| Open AccessCoseismic fault sealing and fluid pressurization during earthquakes
This paper presents experimental evidence of thermal pressurization (TP) weakening of seismic faults, and suggests TP processes could be significantly promoted by wear-induced sealing during earthquakes even for relatively permeable faults.
- Lu Yao
- , Shengli Ma
- & Giulio Di Toro
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| Open AccessNext-generation seismic model of the Australian crust from synchronous and asynchronous ambient noise imaging
This study constructs a new high-resolution 3D shear velocity model of the Australian continent using an extensive seismic dataset and a new imaging workflow, revealing detailed crustal structures that shed light on undercover mineral exploration.
- Yunfeng Chen
- , Erdinc Saygin
- & Mike Sandiford
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| 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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| Open AccessEvidence of ghost plagioclase signature induced by kinetic fractionation of europium in the Earth’s mantle
Researchers found natural evidence of kinetic Eu anomalies caused by melt-induced diffusion in mantle peridotite clinopyroxene, providing an alternative to crustal recycling for the enigmatic ghost plagioclase signatures in oceanic basalts.
- Romain Tilhac
- , Károly Hidas
- & Carlos J. Garrido
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Matters Arising
| Open AccessIncrease of P-wave velocity due to melt in the mantle at the Gakkel Ridge
- Zhiteng Yu
- & Satish C. Singh
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Matters Arising
| Open AccessReply to: Increase of P-wave velocity due to melt in the mantle at the Gakkel Ridge
- Ivan Koulakov
- , Vera Schlindwein
- & Aleksey Ivanov
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Matters Arising
| Open AccessSilica is unlikely to be soluble in upper crustal carbonatite melts
- Michael Anenburg
- & Tibor Guzmics
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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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| Open AccessUp-to-fivefold reverberating waves through the Earth’s center and distinctly anisotropic innermost inner core
This study presents hitherto unreported multiply-reverberating seismic body waves through the Earth’s center. Their travel times confirm a distinct internal shell within the inner core, existing possibly due to a past change in the inner core growth.
- Thanh-Son Phạm
- & Hrvoje Tkalčić
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| Open AccessFaunal engineering stimulates landscape-scale accretion in southeastern US salt marshes
The contribution of animal ecosystem engineers to coastal geomorphological processes is often neglected. Here, the authors combine observational, experimental and modelling work to demonstrate that ecosystem engineering by mussels is a much stronger driver of salt marsh accretion rates than expected.
- Sinéad M. Crotty
- , Daniele Pinton
- & Christine Angelini
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| Open AccessGlobal ocean redox changes before and during the Toarcian Oceanic Anoxic Event
Geochemical modeling shows that just a several percent expansion of O2-free areas with toxic sulfide build-up likely contributed to biodiversity loss or reorganization during the Toarcian mass extinction 183 million years ago.
- Alexandra Kunert
- & Brian Kendall
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| Open AccessSubduction initiation triggered the Caribbean large igneous province
Using a large-scale 3D geodynamic model, the authors show how the transfer of subduction zone from the Pacific to the Atlantic triggered the formation of a mantle plume at the origin of the Cretaceous Caribbean Large Igneous province.
- Nicolas Riel
- , João C. Duarte
- & Anton Popov
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| Open AccessMicroseismicity and lithosphere thickness at a nearly-amagmatic oceanic detachment fault system
Oceanic detachment faults play a central role in accommodating the plate divergence at mid-oceanic ridges. Here, the authors show micro-seismicity of a nearly-amagmatic flip-flop detachment fault system at the ultraslow spreading Southwest Indian Ridge.
- Jie Chen
- , Wayne C. Crawford
- & Mathilde Cannat
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Article
| Open AccessMilankovitch-paced erosion in the southern Central Andes
Fisher et al. combine sediment geochemistry and climate modelling to reveal long-term synchrony between erosion rates and orbitally-driven climate oscillations in the tectonically-active southern Central Andes.
- G. Burch Fisher
- , Lisa V. Luna
- & Lucas J. Lourens
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| Open AccessMagmatic plumbing and dynamic evolution of the 2021 La Palma eruption
In a new study, the authors use seismological methods to understand the eruption of La Palma 2021. Results suggest a preparatory phase of de-stabilisation of a mushy reservoir, and a co-eruptive phase with seismicity controlled by the drainage and interplay of two reservoirs.
- Carmen del Fresno
- , Simone Cesca
- & Carmen López
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Article
| Open AccessVelocity-dependent heat transfer controls temperature in fracture networks
Heat transfer in a fracture network is heterogeneous as it depends pre-dominantly on flow velocity and fracture aperture. This finding has direct implications for the heat distribution and exploitation in geothermal and associated natural systems.
- Thomas Heinze
- & Nicola Pastore
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| Open AccessThe rocky road to organics needs drying
How complex organics form in a prebiotic world remains a missing key to establish where life emerged. The authors present a road to abiotic organic synthesis and diversification in hydrothermal contexts involving magmatism and rock hydration.
- Muriel Andreani
- , Gilles Montagnac
- & Bénédicte Ménez