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The St Elias orogen in Alaska is one of the world’s highest coastal mountain ranges. An age analysis of detrital material in active sediment systems in the inaccessible ice-covered valley bottoms reveals localized exhumation that is driven by coupling between erosion and active tectonic rock uplift.
The Earth's mantle constitutes over 80% of the planet's volume and is a key reservoir in global geochemical cycling. An overview of the progress in understanding the generation of mid-ocean-ridge basalt from mantle melt shows that a variety of processes chemically alter mantle signals in the melt generated at depth before its eruption at the sea floor.
Particulate aerosols are thought to be the primary source of iron to the oceans, but the factors determining their solubility, and thus bioavailability, are unclear. X-ray absorption analysis reveals that speciation controls the solubility of iron in three large sources of aerosol iron.
In the northwest Himalaya deeply incised mountain ranges contrast with high-elevation, low-relief areas such as the Deosai plateau in northern Pakistan. Thermochronology data from the Deosai plateau, together with thermal history modelling, suggest that this plateau, along with other morphologically similar surfaces, is a remnant of an Eocene southwestern Tibetan plateau.
Atmospheric particles are thought to initiate the majority of terrestrial precipitation. Field-based measurements of ice-crystal residues, together with controlled environment experiments on artificial clouds, suggest that anthropogenic lead-containing particles are among the most efficient ice-forming substances in the atmosphere.
Increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide levels are causing ocean acidification, compromising the ability of some marine organisms to build and maintain support structures. An analysis of mussels from a submarine volcano setting with natural low-pH conditions shows low shell thicknesses and growth rates, but survival over up to four decades.
The penultimate interglacial period was punctuated by three sea-level highstands. Uranium–thorium ages obtained from speleothems in Italian caves show that the relationship between the timing of the peaks in sea level and Northern Hemisphere insolation is dependent on the previous extent of continental ice sheets.
Brine fluids supply the sea floor with energy-rich substrates. Geochemical and genetic analyses indicate that the associated microbial communities—and their dominant metabolisms—vary between seep sites with different supplies of sulphate and organic matter.
Hurricane forecasters are quite successful in predicting the pathways of tropical cyclones days in advance, but their intensification is less accurately predicted. An analysis of the evolution of maximum winds and total lightning frequency in 56 hurricanes around the globe reveals that hurricane intensification is often preceded by an increase in lightning frequency about one day before.
The exploration of the Solar System is an expensive endeavour. The greater the number of nations that engage in peaceful planetary research the better.
Presubmission enquiries have only rarely resolved the question of whether a paper is suitable for Nature Geoscience. We are now removing this option from our online submission system.
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.
