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A global analysis of seismic waves has identified a widespread sharp velocity anomaly at the base of the low seismic velocity zone that is consistent with partial melting, closing a decades-long debate about the origin of this zone.
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.
Spacecraft observations and climate modelling have revealed how atmospheric waves, dust storms and atmospheric loss processes are coupled throughout the atmosphere of Mars.
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.
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.
Seismic observations reveal that the Earth’s inner core oscillates with a period of approximately seven decades. The multidecadal periodicity coincides with that of several other geophysical observations, particularly the variations in the length of day and the Earth’s magnetic field, suggesting dynamic interactions between the major layers of the Earth.
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.
Plant-available phosphorus declines in paddy soils as atmospheric CO2 increases, according to long-term free air carbon dioxide enrichment experiments of rice plants.
Volcanic activity led to ocean acidification at the onset of Oceanic Anoxic Event 2, which then persisted for 600,000 years due to biogeochemical feedbacks, according to marine osmium isotope and carbonate sedimentation records offshore from southwest Australia.
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 interplay between anthropogenic forcing and internal variability associated with the Interdecadal Pacific Oscillation has exacerbated agricultural droughts over southern Central Asia since 1992, according to large ensemble simulations.
The environmental sensors aboard the Perseverance rover on Mars are gathering meteorological data at Jezero crater. These data capture an active atmospheric surface layer that responds to multiple dynamical phenomena, ranging in spatial and temporal scales from metres to thousands of kilometres and from seconds to a Martian year, respectively.
Meteorology measurements from NASA’s Perseverance rover on Mars reveal a diversity of processes at work in the atmospheric boundary layer at Jezero crater over a range of temporal scales.
Observations and modelling of the Thwaites Glacier Ice Tongue link episodic changes in ice speed to fracturing between 2015 and 2021 and show these changes to be reversible over one- to two-year timescales.
Some coastal marshes may have a hard time building soil elevation under future climate conditions, although this may reduce methane emissions, according to four years of field manipulation of warming and elevated CO2 in a coastal wetland.
Elevated atmospheric CO2 reduces soil carbon accumulation and methane emissions from wetlands by changing soil redox potential resulting from increased oxygen fluxes produced by plants, according to a four-year field experiment.
