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The processes that control the deformation and eventual destruction of Earth’s oldest continental crust are unclear. Mantle flow models suggest subduction played a role in the deformation of the North China Craton.

Summer snow accumulation and its albedo effect on Arctic sea ice are controlled by the Arctic Oscillation atmospheric circulation pattern, according to a combined modelling and remote sensing analysis.

Mesozoic deformation of the North China Craton occurred via lithospheric thickening followed by thinning and extension triggered by flat-slab subduction and rollback, according to four-dimensional mantle flow models of the plate–mantle system.

A re-evaluation of global land-to-ocean carbon exports using a multi-model ensemble and a database of observations reveals that the export of carbon by rivers is 20% higher than that reported in the 2021 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) assessment. These findings underscore the important contribution of riverine carbon to the carbon budget.

Global riverine carbon export to the ocean may exceed previous estimates, underscoring the important role of riverine carbon to the carbon budget, according to a multi-model ensemble assessment constrained by a global dataset.

A global analysis of post-fire vegetation productivity recovery reveals that the recovery time shows spatial variations across vegetation types and regions. The dominant factors that influence the recovery time in the majority of the global burned area are the post-fire climate conditions, such as soil moisture, vapour pressure deficit and air temperature.

This study investigates the history of graphitic carbon in two ancient North American mountain belts related to Nuna supercontinent assembly. Using rhenium–osmium and uranium–lead dating, the research reveals that biogenic graphite was hydrothermally remobilized in shear zones during late orogenesis, indicating periodic carbon cycling over 200 million years.

Deformation experiments and piezoelectric modelling show that the electric charge generated by quartz crystals is capable of depositing dissolved gold. These results suggest that the piezoelectric activity of quartz might drive gold nugget formation from hydrothermal solutions in earthquake settings.

Wildfires are a natural disturbance in Arctic and boreal regions, but unprecedented wildfire extremes over the past decade have been linked to climate warming. Tracking fires at high temporal resolution reveals a large spatial variability in Arctic–boreal fire regimes driven by environmental and anthropogenic factors, which also modulate the climate sensitivity of different regions.

Quartz emits a piezoelectric charge during deformation that may promote the formation of gold nuggets within veins in orogenic settings that experience earthquakes, according to a study using quartz deformation experiments and piezoelectric modelling.

Arctic–boreal biomes vary regionally in the sensitivity of their fire regime to climate, according to an analysis of properties of individual fires measured by satellite radiometry.

The upwelling mantle beneath Iceland underwent melt depletion at least 1 billion years ago and is therefore compositionally buoyant, according to a study of neodymium and hafnium isotope ratios in peridotites from the Charlie Gibbs Transform Zone.

Enhanced chemical weathering following continental breakup may have driven a succession of Mesozoic oceanic anoxic events, according to tectonic and biogeochemical modelling.

About 6% of the total uptake of carbon dioxide by the ocean is due to rainfall, according to an analysis of satellite observations and ERA5 reanalysis data from 2008 to 2018.

Subtropical and extratropical sea surface temperature changes can explain recent observed Walker circulation strengthening, according to climate model experiments.

Genomes recovered from a Tibetan Plateau ice core extending back 41,000 years show that preserved viral communities varied substantially with cold-to-warm climate cycles.

More than 80% of vegetation burned globally regained its pre-fire level of productivity within 2 years, according to an assessment of post-fire vegetation productivity from 2004 to 2021.

Linear aeolian dunes aligned in the direction of snow drift are widespread across Antarctica, indicating a limited supply of mobile snow particles controlled by snow sintering, according to an analysis of satellite imagery.

Increasing the number of global changes reduces the resistance of ecosystem services worldwide, according to an analysis of global available observational data and field experiments.