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Diogenite meteorites are thought to represent mantle rocks that formed as cumulates in magma chambers on 4 Vesta or a similar differentiated asteroid. Microstructural analysis of olivine grains from a diogenite meteorite show that the preferred orientation of their crystal lattice was formed through plastic deformation, indicating dynamic, planet-like processes in its parent body.
The causes for rising temperatures along the Antarctic Peninsula over the past few thousand years have been debated. Analyses of diatom geochemistry and assemblage ecology from Palmer Deep off the western margin of the Antarctic Peninsula reveal that atmospheric processes have dominated glacial ice discharge during the late Holocene.
Deposits of highly vesicular pumice that blanket submarine volcanoes are often attributed to explosive eruptions. Density and textural analysis of clasts dredged from the submarine Macauley Volcano, southwest Pacific Ocean, however, reveal an eruptive style that is neither explosive nor effusive, with clasts instead forming from buoyant detachment of a magma foam.
Naturally occurring bromine- and iodine-containing compounds substantially reduce regional, and possibly global, tropospheric ozone levels. Experimental and model results suggest that the reaction of ozone with iodide could account for around 75% of observed iodine oxide levels over the tropical Atlantic Ocean.
A period of cooling in the North Atlantic region 8,200 years ago affected climate throughout the Northern Hemisphere. A speleothem record from central China indicates that a dry period lasting 150 years was associated with the 8,200 year event.
Advances in seasonal forecasting have brought widespread socio-economic benefits. A modelling study suggests that tropospheric forecast skill is enhanced when the forecast model is initialized at the onset of a stratospheric sudden warming event.
The El Niño/Southern Oscillation in the Pacific Ocean influences temperature in other tropical ocean basins. Reanalysis data and model simulations suggest that temperature anomalies in the north tropical Atlantic may also influence the development of La Niña events.
Anammox, anaerobic ammonium oxidation, accounts for over 50% of nitrogen loss in marine ecosystems. A field study in north China reveals hotspots of anammox activity in sediments sampled from land–lake interfaces.