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Chemical weathering of subaerial felsic crust modified the composition of Palaeoarchaean seawater, suggesting possible Eoarchaean crustal emergence, according to the radiogenic strontium isotope composition of 3.5–3.2 Ga barite deposits.
Deposition of sulfate and nitrate in China has declined more slowly than emissions of their precursors, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides, according to a combination of emissions inventory and air quality and statistical modelling.
Sulfur dioxide emissions due to consumption by developed and developing countries differ in magnitude but produce comparable climate impacts due to the regional distribution of emissions, according to simulations using an Earth system model.
Methane hydrate dissociation occurred across the Oligocene–Miocene boundary, which may have contributed to the termination of glaciation, according to analysis of lipid biomarkers from the Southern Ocean.
Vegetation plays an important role in the aggregate carbon balance of fires, according to a 1901 to 2010 land surface model study that, assuming steady state, shows potentially greater pyrogenic carbon production than legacy losses at global scale, due mostly to grassland adaptations to fire.
Stress transitions from horizontally forced compression to vertically forced extension during subduction initiation, according to seismic images of the Puysegur plate boundary, New Zealand.
Submesoscale ocean eddies inhibit the growth of La Niña and El Niño events, according to an analysis of long-term high-resolution global climate simulations.
The isotopic composition of nitrogen in the Martian atmosphere can be explained by a nitrogen-rich ancient atmosphere, according to models of atmospheric evolution.
Potential sea-level rise from the world’s glaciers is 20% less than previously thought, according to an estimate based on high-resolution maps of glacier ice velocity and thickness.
Structures in the upper, overriding plate impact the geometry, hydration state and seismogenic region of subduction zones, according to a 3D seismic structural model of the Nankai subduction zone.
Moderate flooding in the European Alps declined during past warmer periods, whereas extreme floods both increased and decreased, according to an analysis of palaeoflood records.
Tsunamis generated by megathrust earthquakes are controlled by regional-scale structural heterogeneity, according to numerical modelling based on the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami.
Oceanic crust subduction sequesters substantial amounts of argon in the Earth’s mantle, while atmosphere-derived argon affects only the isotopic composition and not the overall budget, according to geodynamic–geochemical models of mantle convection.
The Pope, Smith and Kohler glaciers in West Antarctica have exhibited faster than expected retreat rates in recent years, according to grounding-line observations from satellite radar interferometry.
The compositional asymmetry between the Moon’s near- and farsides can be explained as the result of impact-induced mantle convection and gravitational instability, according to numerical modelling of the South Pole–Aitken impact and the ensuing mantle evolution.
The internal structures of ultralow-velocity zones at the base of the mantle are consistent with an origin from remnants of the early Earth’s differentiation, according to seismic data analysis and geodynamical modelling.
Thin ice sheets during the warm Early Jurassic were tightly coupled to atmospheric CO2 fluctuations, according to a CO2 reconstruction based on the carbon isotopes of fossil wood.
Tropical cyclones frequently hit SE Africa in the mid-Holocene during positive Indian Ocean Dipole phases according to analysis of storm-related tempestite deposits in shoreface sediments off South Africa.
Emissions from the boreal forest biosphere can substantially increase aerosol load above the forest and influence the radiative properties of clouds, according to analysis of observations from a monitoring station in Finland.