Volume 16 Issue 2, February 2023

The recent emergence of a new economic model that is focused on the pursuit of human and ecological wellbeing — the wellbeing economy — offers a fresh framework for geology to contribute to society. The challenge will be to extend the social purpose of geology beyond material and financial goals to the ultimate ends of sustainability through delivering long-term wellbeing for all.

Satellite data are revolutionizing coastal science. A study revealing how the El Niño/Southern Oscillation impacts coastal erosion around the Pacific Rim shows what is possible.

A global analysis of seismic waves has identified a widespread sharp velocity anomaly at the base of the low seismic velocity zone that is consistent with partial melting, closing a decades-long debate about the origin of this zone.

From the tools of Stone Age ancestors to records of Earth’s history, Yang Li and Xian-Hua Li explore how the properties of quartz place it at the heart of human innovation.

Seismic observations reveal that the Earth’s inner core oscillates with a period of approximately seven decades. The multidecadal periodicity coincides with that of several other geophysical observations, particularly the variations in the length of day and the Earth’s magnetic field, suggesting dynamic interactions between the major layers of the Earth.

Microbial death pathways affect the quantity and composition of microbial necromass and its associated soil organic carbon.

Spacecraft observations and climate modelling have revealed how atmospheric waves, dust storms and atmospheric loss processes are coupled throughout the atmosphere of Mars.

Manganese oxidation experiments in Mars-like fluids suggest that chlorate and bromate may have been more effective oxidants of manganese on early Mars than atmospheric oxygen and explain observed manganese oxide deposits.

The El Niño/Southern Oscillation drives coherent patterns of beach erosion and accretion around the Pacific Rim, according to analysis of satellite imagery covering over 8,300 km of sandy coastline.

An analysis fusing satellite data with a process-based model of plant growth attributes changes in vegetation activity across terrestrial ecosystems to climatic changes.

The interplay between anthropogenic forcing and internal variability associated with the Interdecadal Pacific Oscillation has exacerbated agricultural droughts over southern Central Asia since 1992, according to large ensemble simulations.

Plant-available phosphorus declines in paddy soils as atmospheric CO₂ increases, according to long-term free air carbon dioxide enrichment experiments of rice plants.

Volcanic activity led to ocean acidification at the onset of Oceanic Anoxic Event 2, which then persisted for 600,000 years due to biogeochemical feedbacks, according to marine osmium isotope and carbonate sedimentation records offshore from southwest Australia.

A partially molten low-seismic-velocity zone in the asthenosphere is globally prevalent, but partial melting is not the primary control of low asthenospheric viscosity, according to analysis of seismic waves travelling through the mantle.

Multidecadal oscillation of the Earth’s inner core, coinciding with length of day and magnetic field variations, is experiencing a pause and reversing, according to analysis of repeating seismic waves traversing the inner core since the 1960s.