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A field-based study of 4.5 years of whole-soil warming reveals that warming stimulates loss of structurally complex organic carbon at the same rate as that for bulk organic carbon in subsoil.

The devastating intensity of exceptional floods in some rivers can be anticipated, and surprisingly traces back to the river basins themselves, rather than the amount of rain they receive.

The El Niño Southern Oscillation strongly impacts climate, but its variability remains difficult to predict. A conceptual model based on shifting circulation patterns offers a simple explanation for this complex behaviour.

Structurally complex polymeric compounds, such as pyrogenic carbon, that have been previously considered long-term carbon sinks in soils can rapidly be lost by decomposition at warmer temperatures, according to 4.5 years of whole-soil warming experiments.

Extreme flood risk can be predicted based on stream network organization and flow regime, according to analysis of hydroclimatic observational records.

A simple conceptual model suggests that the complex behaviour of the El Niño/Southern Oscillation can be explained by zonal shifts in the Walker circulation.

Long-lasting eruptions of some subduction zone volcanoes may be regulated by their magma sources in the mantle. This suggests that direct connections between the mantle and surface are possible through a relatively thick crust.

Small-scale compositional alteration of the mantle wedge by fluids may regulate eruptive activity of individual arc volcanoes, according to an analysis of the isotopic composition of ashes erupted by Tungurahua volcano in Ecuador from 1999 to 2016.

Analysis of lunar soils sampled by the Chang’e-5 mission suggests that impact glass beads may host a substantial inventory of solar wind-derived water on the Moon’s surface.

Meltwater discharge to the mid-Holocene North Atlantic disrupted decadal climate variability, suggesting future melting on Greenland may hinder climate predictability in the region, according to an annually laminated lake-sediment record and transient model simulations.

Intraplate volcanoes erupt lower volumes of more diverse magma and have increasingly complex magmatic architectures as the heat flux from the driving mantle plume wanes, according to an analysis of a continental hotspot chain in eastern Australia.

Numerical simulations show that convection in the mantle shapes the long-term structure of Earth’s magnetic field. The mantle influences the magnetic field by imposing a pattern of cooling that controls the dynamics of fluid flow at the top of the outer core.

The lunar basalts sampled by the Chang’e-5 mission originated from melting of a clinopyroxene-rich mantle source enhanced in radioactive elements, potentially explaining this late lunar volcanism, according to sample analysis and crystallization modelling.

The pattern of heat flow across the core–mantle boundary results in longitudinal differences in geomagnetic field behaviour, according to geodynamo modelling.

Climate model simulations suggest that atmospheric and oceanic circulation are modified by spatially uniform changes in global sea level.

Climate simulations suggest that the contribution of methane to climate warming and wetting due to absorption of long-wave radiation is partially counteracted by short-wave absorption.

Night-time chemistry has an important contribution to air pollution over China and India. Understanding the chemical evolution of pollution in the atmosphere at night is needed for effective solutions to improve air quality.

Following on from insights gleaned from iron meteorites, Claire Nichols explains why tetrataenite, with its unique magnetic properties, could be key for future renewable energy technologies.

Measurements suggest that emissions from biomass burning drive the rapid growth of particles from nanoscale into sizes relevant for haze formation during the night in Delhi.