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Ancient hydrothermal deposits formed in the Martian subsurface may be the best targets for finding evidence for ancient life on Mars, and clues about the origin of life on Earth.
Size, morphology, silica content and life cycle of diatoms affect their contribution to the export of carbon to the deep ocean, suggests a literature review.
A combination of two anoxygenic pathways of photosynthesis could have helped to warm early Earth, according to geochemical models. These metabolisms, and attendant biogeochemical feedbacks, could have worked to counter the faint young Sun.
Progress in the post-combustion treatment of diesel vehicle exhaust has led to shifting proportions of the constituents of nitrogen oxides. Observations from 61 European cities suggest that the outlook on attaining NO2 standards is more optimistic than expected.
A link between CO2 outgassing from carbonatite volcanoes during the Ediacaran and one of the most prominent carbon cycle perturbations in Earth’s history is suggested by an analysis of the trace-element composition of detrital zircons.
Rising oxygen levels may have facilitated the Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event according to a reconstruction of atmospheric oxygen concentrations.
Recurring slope lineae are likely to be dry granular flows with little-to-no requirement for large volumes of liquid water on Mars, according to an emerging view that is supported by topographic analyses.
Continental rifts are stores and sources of abundant carbon, according to calculations of carbon storage, enrichments and mobilization in rift systems. Continental rift systems are likely to play an important role in Earth’s deep carbon cycle.
Storm-resolving simulations of the tropical Atlantic region bring out the doldrums, a zone of calm and variable winds in the deep tropics that was described in the nineteenth century and then forgotten.
Ancient lavas reveal the presence of deep mantle reservoirs with anomalously light oxygen signatures. These lavas fingerprint heterogeneous mantle domains in early Earth that may have since been mixed away.
Many of the world's saline lakes have been shrinking due to consumptive water use. The Great Salt Lake, USA, provides an example for how the health of and ecosystem services provided by saline lakes can be sustained.
Satellite measurements indicate that Greenland's meltwater rivers are exporting one billion tons of sediment annually, a process that is controlled by the sliding rate of glaciers. This rate is nearly 10% of the fluvial sediment discharge to the ocean.
The release of methane trapped in Martian subsurface reservoirs following planetary obliquity shifts may have contributed to episodic climate warming between 3.6 and 3 billion years ago, explaining evidence for ancient ice-covered lakes.
Debate rages over which water bodies in the US are protected under federal law by the Clean Water Act. Science shows that isolated wetlands and headwater systems provide essential downstream services, but convincing politicians is another matter.
Enhanced protection is needed for freshwater bodies in the United States — in particular impermanent streams and wetlands outside floodplains — according to an assessment of their value and vulnerability.
