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Most of the dust in Antarctic ice cores originates in the glacial outwash of Patagonia. Sedimentary evidence suggests that during the last glacial period, pro-glacial lakes provided an on/off switch for the dust flux to Antarctica.

Mars exploration has been guided by the search for water. The more complex quest by Mars Science Laboratory for habitable environments should illuminate the Martian environmental history, and possibly deliver insights into extraterrestrial life.

The timing of the earliest production of oxygen by photosynthesis is hotly debated. Haematite crystals from Pilbara, Australia, may provide evidence for a deep ocean that was at least occasionally oxygenated by photosynthetic microbes 3.46 billion years ago.

The enhanced Arctic warming over the past three decades is attracting much attention. Combining forward and inverse models with observations suggests that regional changes in aerosol concentrations have contributed significantly.

Volcanic rocks at island arcs can show characteristics of the subducting oceanic plate. The isotopic signature of rocks at the Izu-Bonin arc in the northwest Pacific suggest the presence of Indian-type rather than Pacific-type oceanic crust.

The vast Thaumasia plateau on Mars is fringed by extensive zones of deformation. Topographic and structural analysis suggests that the plateau may have slipped in a massive landslide, deforming its margins in the process.

Since the end of the Apollo era, the Moon has received relatively little attention from planetary scientists. Fresh interest from a new range of nations could lead to insights into our satellite's evolution and resources.

Susanne Straub and colleagues examined teaspoons of 42-million-year-old volcanic ash to elucidate the impact of plate tectonics on arc magmatism.

Andrew Moy and colleagues studied foraminifera in sediments, and made their own contributions to the sea, in their attempt to understand calcification in the Southern Ocean.

Emily Sekula-Wood and colleagues held their breath as they waited for results to rise up from the depths of the coastal ocean off California.

Colloids, such as submicrometre mineral particles or bacterial cells, can act as carriers enhancing the mobility of poorly soluble contaminants in subsurface environments. Spectroscopic and microscopic analysis of flooded soils suggests that copper colloids and metal sulphide colloids increase the concentration of contaminants in waterlogged soils.

The mineralogy of the dwarf planet Ceres has long remained uncertain. The infrared spectral features of this planetary body are indicative of minerals derived from the aqueous alteration of olivine-rich materials, suggesting that Ceres is not represented by any known meteorite.

Since 42 million years ago, the northwestern Pacific Izu Bonin arc magmas have incorporated lead from subducted Indian-type oceanic crust. This crust probably formed at a now-extinct spreading centre in the Pacific basin that tapped Indian-type upper mantle, suggesting a greater extent for this mantle domain than accepted at present.

The relative importance of the various factors that lead to intraplate deformation has been difficult to establish. Modelling results show that compressional deformation of a thick sedimentary basin in southeastern Ukraine was facilitated by strain localization resulting from the contrast in thermal conductivity between the basin and the surrounding crystalline crust.

Dust deposition over Antarctica was much higher during the last glacial period, but the causes of this flux remain unclear. An analysis of the composition and age of glacial outwash sediments indicates that growth and decay of glaciers in Patagonia may have influenced dust transport to Antarctica at that time.

The diatom Pseudo-nitzschia produces the neurotoxin domoic acid, known to cause illness and death in marine mammals and humans. Measurements of surface- and deep-water domoic acid concentrations off the coast of California suggest that this toxin is rapidly transported to depth following diatom blooms.