Mosses support carbon sequestration, nutrient cycling, organic matter decomposition and plant pathogen control in soils across the globe, according to a global survey of soil attributes in ecosystems with and without mosses.

Analyses of phosphorus concentrations in more than 370 watersheds of the Great Lakes Basin from 2003 to 2019 suggest widespread increases in soluble reactive phosphorus concentrations, despite often decreasing or non-significant trends in total phosphorus.

Laboratory experiments suggest that bursting bubbles enhance ice melt from tidewater glaciers, and consequently, glacier-ice structure needs to be accounted for in projections of ice loss and sea-level rise.

Fine sea salt aerosols produced by blowing snow in the Arctic impact cloud properties and warm the surface, according to observations from the MOSAiC expedition.

While generally tracking Northern Hemisphere summer insolation, the Earth gained energy during cold millennial scale events throughout the past 150,000 years, according to an analysis of benthic oxygen isotopes.

Subduction of sediments shaped geochemically by an increasingly oxidized atmosphere shifted the redox state of the mantle during the early Proterozoic, according to an analysis of sulfur speciation in apatites from ancient igneous zircons.

Fluids at the plate interface are sourced from the dehydrating slab mantle beneath the Shumagin Gap in Alaska, and contribute to regional seismic risk by influencing rupture propagation, according to magnetotelluric observations and electrical resistivity modelling.

From pressure indicator to paint brightener, Alicia Cruz-Uribe examines the many uses of rutile.

Climate change together with the recent onset of El Niño this year has led to widespread heatwaves. As these events become increasingly commonplace, cities around the world urgently need to build resilience to heat.

Tackling plastic pollution not only requires improved understanding of environmental dynamics of plastics, but also needs turning scientific insights into actions.

Admission to doctoral study is a crucial step in the academic pipeline, but discriminatory procedures can disproportionately impact students from ethnic minority backgrounds. We show how these policies contribute to inequity in the geosciences and propose strategies for change.

One journal’s reject may be another journal’s gem. Our editors aim to direct rejected manuscripts towards a more suitable destination journal in our transfer network.