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Two-thirds of terrestrial carbon is stored as organic matter in soils, but its response to warming has yet to be resolved. A soil warming experiment in a Canadian forest has revealed that the leaf-derived compound cutin is resistant to decomposition under elevated temperatures.
The influence of climate on mountain building has long been debated. A reconstruction for the past 25 million years suggests coincidence of Himalayan erosion and monsoon intensification, hinting at a causal relationship.
Glaciologists have speculated that subglacial floods might lead to increased ice flow rates, altering Antarctica's mass balance and contribution to sea-level rise. Now, observations from Byrd Glacier in East Antarctica firmly link a subglacial flood to a 10% speed up of the glacier.
The interactions between climate and tectonics in active mountain ranges are complex and important. Field and geophysical data from the St Elias Range of Alaska show that glacial erosion can influence the dynamics of the lithosphere in such settings.
Two chains of seamounts on the Pacific plate subduct beneath central Japan. In the process, a fragment of the Pacific slab has become wedged in the subduction zone and may be the source of recurring deep-thrust earthquakes beneath Tokyo.
Riverine transport of terrestrial organic carbon to the oceans exerts an important long-term control on atmospheric carbon dioxide levels. Tropical cyclones participate in this process by delivering recently fixed carbon to the sea.
Natural climate variability and limited observational records have made identifying human-influenced climate change at the poles difficult. But a human signature is now emerging in rising Arctic and Antarctic temperatures.
Saharan humidity has varied dramatically throughout the Pleistocene era. A new deep-sea sediment record reveals large and rapid hydrological shifts that are linked to the competing influences of low- and high-latitude climate processes.
The electronic configuration of iron impurities in lower-mantle minerals influences their physical properties, but it is not well constrained. New studies suggest that ferrous iron in silicate phases exists mainly in an intermediate spin state.
Past variability in Sahel rainfall is closely linked to global sea surface temperature distributions in observations and models alike. Climate simulations for the 21st century suggest that additional influences may become important in the future.
Carbon cycle–climate feedbacks are expected to diminish the size of the terrestrial carbon sink over the next century. Model simulations suggest that nitrogen availability is likely to play a key role in mediating this response.
Wildfires have been a natural part of the Earth system for millions of years. A new charcoal database for the past two millennia shows that human activity increased biomass burning after AD 1750 and suppressed it after AD 1870.
Iron has been shown to stimulate productivity in certain areas of the modern ocean. However, it was not the primary driver of carbon burial in the equatorial Pacific Ocean for the past 10 million years.
A mantle plume origin for the Samoan hotspot has been contested because the ages along its putative trail did not seem to increase monotonically. New dates from the island of Savai'i resolve the controversy and favour a plume origin.
The causes of the catastrophic eruption of the Lusi mud volcano in Indonesia are hotly debated. Data from a nearby exploration well and a new look at the stress regime suggest that drilling operations, and not an earthquake set the eruption off.
