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The extinction rate of European freshwater gastropods during the late Cretaceous mass extinction has been previously underestimated but was still lower than the present rate, according to a comparison of current biodiversity with the fossil record
A combination of monsoon circulation, moisture source dynamics, and precipitation intensity influences speleothem oxygen isotope records in the Indian monsoon region, according to simulations using an isotope-enabled model with moisture-tagging capability.
Transient periods of hyperaridity in northern Arabia during the late Miocene were out of phase with those in North Africa and may have promoted unidirectional dispersal of Eurasian mammals into Africa, according to analyses of a sedimentary sequence in western Iran.
Impact heating on asteroid parent bodies may be sufficient to facilitate aqueous alteration and the generation of solid organic material in the region below the impact crater floor, according to direct experiments using a two-stage light gas gun.
Impact glasses discovered in Belize originate from the Pantasma impact crater in Nicaragua 530 km away and probably represent a tektite strewn-field, according to geochemical analyses and isotope geochronology.
Incorporation of iron meteorites in the core could explain variable noble gas signatures in different mantle reservoirs, according to stepwise heating experiments which show that the Washington County meteorite carries solar wind-derived He and Ne.
Snowball Earth could have thawed at atmospheric CO2-levels comparable to the present as a result of low surface albedo in mid-latitudes from a combination dust deposition and low precipitation rates, according to Earth System Model simulations
Forecasts of oceanic mesoscale variability, such as fronts and eddies, can be extended significantly by accounting for uncertainties in initial conditions, according to ensemble simulations of ocean models that filter out unconstrained scales.
Deformation experiments using glass beads generate nano-earthquakes that mimic the spatio-temporal pattern of strain in natural seismicity and suggest memory effects associated with strain fluctuations are strain-dependent rather than time-dependent.
The acidity of inorganic aerosols in remote areas is often higher than predicted by chemical transport models, which may lead to an underestimation of direct radiative cooling, according to global aircraft observations of pH and ammonium balance in aerosols
Climate change negatively influences terrestrial ecosystem resilience at a local scale but also enhances spatial asynchrony which helps to stabilize ecosystems at a global scale, according to statistical analyses of monthly satellite vegetation data.
The aperiodic and variable nature of ruptures and aftershocks on the Himalayan megathrust is explained by the presence of a ramp structure in the middle of the seismogenic zone rather than a flat geometry, according to seismic cycle simulations
Flood events which carved canyons along the Jökulsá á Fjöllum river in northern Iceland occurred 3.5, 1.5 and 1.35 thousand years ago and were at most a third of the size of previous estimates, according to stratigraphic analyses and flood simulations.
Perceptions of scientists held by students in the United States can be broadened by highlighting people from marginalized groups who have influenced science, according to semi-structured interviews after a geoscience course intervention.
Alkenone and n-alkane biomarker measurements in an exceptionally continuous and well constrained sedimentary succession in Japan can be used to reconstruct ocean and atmospheric changes throughout the Pleistocene.
Microbial sulfate reduction is active in high pH serpentinization fluids and may be a potential microbial metabolism on other rocky bodies in the solar system, according to analyses of fluids from boreholes in Omani and Californian ophiolites.
Displacement rates increased in rock glaciers in the French Alps, alongside an onset of destabilisation, as air temperatures increased, according to analyses of 70 years of aerial orthoimagery data
Migration of the Subtropical Front during glacial and interglacial periods resulted in variability in the strength of the biological pump in the Southern Ocean sector of the Indian Ocean, according to sedimentary records from the Agulhas Plateau.
Volatile metal pollutants in basaltic volcanic plumes can be deposited up to 100 times faster than refractory species, and may produce disproportionate impacts at proximal locations, according to extensive sampling of Kīlauea’s 2018 eruption plume.
Holocene compaction in the Venice Lagoon, Italy, highlights the importance of soil properties and deposition rate in predicting the evolution of tidal marshes, according to numerical model simulations calibrated with 20 years of observations.