The recent emergence of a new economic model that is focused on the pursuit of human and ecological wellbeing — the wellbeing economy — offers a fresh framework for geology to contribute to society. The challenge will be to extend the social purpose of geology beyond material and financial goals to the ultimate ends of sustainability through delivering long-term wellbeing for all.

Multidecadal oscillation of the Earth’s inner core, coinciding with length of day and magnetic field variations, is experiencing a pause and reversing, according to analysis of repeating seismic waves traversing the inner core since the 1960s.

This month marks the 15-year anniversary of Nature Geoscience, a milestone reached after weathering three years of pandemic-related global disruption. We reflect on the burden on peer review over this period and the resilience of the geoscience community.

The El Niño/Southern Oscillation drives coherent patterns of beach erosion and accretion around the Pacific Rim, according to analysis of satellite imagery covering over 8,300 km of sandy coastline.

Global estimations of the water-storage capacity in the rooting zone from satellite data reveal plant access to deep water across a third of Earth’s vegetated surface.

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.

An analysis fusing satellite data with a process-based model of plant growth attributes changes in vegetation activity across terrestrial ecosystems to climatic changes.

Measurements show that night-time production of atmospheric nitrate radicals increased in China but decreased in the European Union and the United States from 2014 to 2019. This suggests the increasing contribution of night-time atmospheric oxidation in China to air pollution.

Multidecadal oscillation of the Earth’s inner core, coinciding with length of day and magnetic field variations, is experiencing a pause and reversing, according to analysis of repeating seismic waves traversing the inner core since the 1960s.

From the tools of Stone Age ancestors to records of Earth’s history, Yang Li and Xian-Hua Li explore how the properties of quartz place it at the heart of human innovation.

Progress in understanding and modelling ENSO complexity provides a promising opportunity to both improve seasonal climate prediction and constrain future anthropogenic warming.

The recent emergence of a new economic model that is focused on the pursuit of human and ecological wellbeing — the wellbeing economy — offers a fresh framework for geology to contribute to society. The challenge will be to extend the social purpose of geology beyond material and financial goals to the ultimate ends of sustainability through delivering long-term wellbeing for all.

This month marks the 15-year anniversary of Nature Geoscience, a milestone reached after weathering three years of pandemic-related global disruption. We reflect on the burden on peer review over this period and the resilience of the geoscience community.

Marine phytoplankton both follow and actively influence the environment they inhabit. Unpacking the complex ecological and biogeochemical roles of these tiny organisms can help reveal the workings of the Earth system.

Earth’s most abundant mineral — bridgmanite — lies hidden in the lower mantle, but Li Zhang is hopeful that advances in analytical techniques may reveal the inner workings of our world.