Earth and environmental sciences articles within Nature Communications

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  • Article
    | Open Access

    Uncertainties in the absorptive properties of black and brown carbon particles limit our understanding of their warming potential. Following an extensive field campaign, Liuet al. report that the magnitude of warming is dependent on particle coatings, which vary due to source and photochemical aging.

    • Shang Liu
    • , Allison C. Aiken
    •  & André S. H. Prévôt

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Collisions in the early Solar System affected the final composition of the terrestrial planets, and enstatite chondrites (EC) are thought to represent the primordial Earth’s precursors. Here, the authors show that differences between Earth and EC are due to impact erosion of >15% of the early Earth’s mass.

    • Asmaa Boujibar
    • , Denis Andrault
    •  & Julien Monteux

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Identifying past continental configurations is important for our understanding of the Earth system. Here, the authors present mapping and geochemical analyses that connect the North China Craton with other continents, with implications for the Nuna/Columbia supercontinent configuration at 1.8 Ga.

    • Bo Wan
    • , Brian F. Windley
    •  & Ji’en Zhang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Lower glacial atmospheric CO2has been linked to enhanced carbon storage in the Southern Ocean, yet the associated biological and physical mechanisms are poorly understood. Here, the authors combine diatom and radiolarian isotope measurements, and model simulations to investigate surface–subsurface processes.

    • Andrea Abelmann
    • , Rainer Gersonde
    •  & Ralf Tiedemann

  • Article
    | Open Access

    While variations in solar irradiance are thought to influence North Atlantic climate variability, the direction of the forcing remains unclear. Here the authors present results from a fully coupled ocean-atmosphere model with interactive chemistry that support a top-down mechanism.

    • Rémi Thiéblemont
    • , Katja Matthes
    •  & Felicitas Hansen

  • Article |

    The Central Indian Ocean Basin is one of the most active intra-plate deformation zones on Earth; such areas and their associated earthquakes are poorly understood. Here, the authors show very deep reflectors in the oceanic mantle, suggesting that the lithospheric mantle deformation can be divided into two layers.

    • Yanfang Qin
    •  & Satish C Singh

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Conservation initiatives that span multiple countries often face conflicting national priorities. Here, Beger et al.develop a framework for integrating regional priorities and national plans by identifying multi-objective and complementary conservation hotspots, and apply it to the Coral Triangle Initiative.

    • Maria Beger
    • , Jennifer McGowan
    •  & Hugh P. Possingham

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The relative contribution of nitrogen fixation and nitrogen diffusion to marine biomes is presently debated. Here, the authors evaluate the contribution of these pathways across the tropics and subtropics of the global ocean and show that nitrogen diffusion, reinforced by salt fingers, is the dominant process.

    • B. Fernández-Castro
    • , B. Mouriño-Carballido
    •  & R. Simó

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Pressure- and temperature-induced phase transitions have long been studied, but little is known about the processes by which the atoms rearrange. Here, the authors presentin situmeasurements on shock compressed fused silica, revealing an amorphous to crystalline high pressure stishovite phase transition.

    • A. E. Gleason
    • , C. A. Bolme
    •  & W. L. Mao

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The Younger Dryas cooling event has been identified in ice records in the Northern Hemisphere, but the effects of this cold snap on the tropics are poorly known. Here, the authors present a speleothem record and model simulations, showing that tropical hydroclimate recovered slower than temperatures in Greenland.

    • J.W. Partin
    • , T.M. Quinn
    •  & F.W. Taylor

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The long-term response of marine cyanobacteria to increased anthropogenic CO2 are not known. Here, Hutchins et al. show that Trichodesmium exposed to long-term selection at elevated CO2display irreversible increases in nitrogen fixation and growth rates, even after returning to present day conditions.

    • David A. Hutchins
    • , Nathan G. Walworth
    •  & Fei-Xue Fu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Metal toxicity is a primary source of abnormalities in aquatic organisms, and these have been used to evaluate anthropogenic heavy metal pollution. Here, the authors suggest that abnormalities in Silurian acritarchs were caused by heavy metal pollution corresponding to Early Palaeozoic extinction events.

    • Thijs R. A. Vandenbroucke
    • , Poul Emsbo
    •  & Wolfgang Kiessling

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Controls on the Tibetan Plateau fresh water resources are poorly understood. Here, the authors develop juniper tree-ring chronologies representing over 500 years and show that northern and southern subsets exist due to variations in hydroclimate over this time period.

    • Qi-Bin Zhang
    • , Michael N. Evans
    •  & Lixin Lyu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The extent to which greenhouse gases forced glacier retreat during the last deglaciation remains unclear. Here, the authors recalculate cosmogenic nuclide ages for 195 glacier moraines and show that deglacial glacier retreat was broadly globally synchronous with rising levels of atmospheric CO2.

    • Jeremy D. Shakun
    • , Peter U. Clark
    •  & Bette L. Otto-Bliesner

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Our understanding of the internal dynamics of the Earth is limited by the lack of seismic data available from oceanic domains. Here, the authors use observations from floating submarine seismographs to show that this technique may provide seismic data to fill the gaps in our knowledge.

    • Alexey Sukhovich
    • , Sébastien Bonnieux
    •  & Guust Nolet

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Small, frequent rockfalls are thought to dominate the erosion of mountains above rockfalls, and little is known about rare large landslides as material is rapidly reworked. Here, the authors present sub-surface data from a large rock avalanche showing how such landslides can be recognized from their deposits.

    • Stuart A. Dunning
    • , Nicholas J. Rosser
    •  & Natalya V. Reznichenko

  • Article
    | Open Access

    U-shaped glacial valleys dominate >10 ka since the last major glaciation and the transitions from glacier-dominated to fluvial regimes are poorly understood. Here, the authors use digital topographic data to show that glacial topography is rapidly replaced by fluvial topography where rock uplift rates are high.

    • Günther Prasicek
    • , Isaac J. Larsen
    •  & David R. Montgomery

  • Article |

    Gamma-ray ‘glows’ are long duration high-energy emissions from thunderclouds. Here, the authors present observations of these emissions using the ADELE array of detectors and suggest that gamma ray emissions are related to relativistic runaway electron avalanches.

    • Nicole A. Kelley
    • , David M. Smith
    •  & Hamid K. Rassoul

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The failure of a broad fringing coral reef to protect the village of Hemani from a tsunami-like wave during Typhoon Haiyan came as a destructive surprise. Here, the authors present results from a phase-resolving wave model and show that the steep reef face facilitated the release of energetic infragravity waves.

    • Volker Roeber
    •  & Jeremy D. Bricker

  • Article |

    Previous studies suggest that rates of gorge formation are controlled by bedrock erodibility, erosion mechanism and hillslope processes. Here, the authors show evidence of rapid gorge formation in granite bedrock and report no relationship with flood size or bedload, attributing the rate to pre-existing jointing.

    • L. Anton
    • , A. E. Mather
    •  & G. De Vicente

  • Article |

    It is widely acknowledged that some form of carbon capture will be necessary to limit global warming to less than 2 °C, but to what extent remains unclear. Here, using climate-carbon models, the authors quantify the amount of negative emissions and carbon storage capacity required to meet this target.

    • T. Gasser
    • , C. Guivarch
    •  & P. Ciais

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The behaviour of airborne fine ash during explosive volcanic eruptions is poorly understood. Here, the authors study hail formation during an eruption, proposing a mechanism of particle aggregation that leads to the fallout of fine ash and the occurrence of concentrically layered aggregates in volcanic deposits

    • Alexa R. Van Eaton
    • , Larry G. Mastin
    •  & Amanda B. Clarke

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The contribution of anthropogenic forcing to rising sea levels during the industrial era remains uncertain. Here, the authors provide a probabilistic evaluation and show that at least 45% of global mean sea level rise is of anthropogenic origin.

    • Sönke Dangendorf
    • , Marta Marcos
    •  & Jürgen Jensen

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The rapid decay of Earth’s dipole magnetic field has recently captured the public imagination. Here, the authors present a southern hemisphere magnetic record from South African Iron Age sites using oriented samples in the floors and suggest that the anomalous field behaviour is not just a recent feature.

    • John A. Tarduno
    • , Michael K. Watkeys
    •  & Courtney L. Wagner

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Utilizing supercritical geothermal water could multiply energy production, but the abundance, location and size of such resources is unclear. Here, the authors present numerical simulations and suggest that supercritical water may play a key role in removing heat from all magmatic intrusions.

    • Samuel Scott
    • , Thomas Driesner
    •  & Philipp Weis

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Striped geochemical zonation has been observed along parts of hotspot tracks, although its origin is not well-understood. Here, the authors present Sr–Nd–Pb–Hf isotope data and present a model that can explain the evolution of zonation in both Tristan-Gough and Hawaiian hotspots, reflecting two end members.

    • Kaj Hoernle
    • , Joana Rohde
    •  & Jason P. Morgan

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The climatic impact of ancient carbon released during the thawing of Arctic permafrost depends on the degree to which it is degraded. Here, the authors show that permafrost-sourced carbon is preferentially metabolized by microbial communities during transit in high-latitude rivers.

    • Paul J. Mann
    • , Timothy I. Eglinton
    •  & Robert G. M. Spencer

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Elevated deposition of bioavailable atmospheric iron may have enhanced carbon storage in the glacial Southern Ocean. Conwayet al. apply a novel rapid-filtration technique to iron trapped in Antarctic ice cores and show that glacial soluble iron deposition was an order of magnitude greater than the modern.

    • T.M. Conway
    • , E.W. Wolff
    •  & H.E. Elderfield

  • Article
    | Open Access

    US CO2emissions dropped ∼11% between 2007 and 2013; a trend widely attributed to the increased use of natural gas over coal, yet the drivers behind this decline remain unquantified. Here, the authors analyse the drivers and show that the recent economic downturn is primarily responsible for the emissions drop.

    • Kuishuang Feng
    • , Steven J. Davis
    •  & Klaus Hubacek

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Minerals are known to stabilize organic carbon in sediments, affecting biogeochemical cycles and global climate, but the mechanism is not understood. Here, the authors suggest that manganese oxides can trap organic carbon and may act as a ‘mineral pump’, transforming carbon between labile and refractory forms.

    • Karen Johnson
    • , Graham Purvis
    •  & Chris Greenwell

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Reductions in winter duration under climate change may have negative consequences for ectotherms adapted to seasonal temperature regimes. Here Farmeret al. show how short winters have, in part, caused failed lake fishery recruitment by altering spawning phenology and lowering the quality of eggs and larvae.

    • Troy M. Farmer
    • , Elizabeth A. Marschall
    •  & Stuart A. Ludsin

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Human pressure on the ocean is thought to be increasing globally, yet the magnitude and patterns of these changes are largely unknown. Here, the authors produce a global map of change in cumulative human pressures over the past 5 years, and show that ∼66% of the ocean has experienced elevated human impact.

    • Benjamin S. Halpern
    • , Melanie Frazier
    •  & Shaun Walbridge

  • Article |

    The Earth’s mantle transition zone may play a key role in large-scale intraplate magmatism and plate tectonics. Here, the authors provide evidence for the origin of continental flood basalts in this zone, by combining oxygen isotope and geochemical evidence from the late Cenozoic Chifeng volcanics of East Asia.

    • Xuan-Ce Wang
    • , Simon A. Wilde
    •  & Ya-Nan Yang

  • Article |

    Accurate forecasting of tropical precipitation is dependent on our understanding of the hydrological cycle. Here, the authors present a speleothem-derived record of Mesoamerican precipitation variability since the 1930s, and show that multi-decadal declines in rainfall coincide with major volcanic eruptions.

    • Amos Winter
    • , Davide Zanchettin
    •  & Hai Cheng

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Global wildfires can have severe societal implications and economic cost and have been strongly linked to climate. Here, the authors analyse daily global wildfire trends and show that, during the past 35 years, wildfire season length has increased by 18.7% over more than a quarter of the Earth’s surface.

    • W. Matt Jolly
    • , Mark A. Cochrane
    •  & David M. J. S. Bowman

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Following the Mw6 South Napa earthquake in California, previously dry streams and springs began to flow. Here, the authors present data from repeated stream surveys and laboratory measurements and suggest that the new flows originated from groundwater in the mountains and were released by the earthquake.

    • Chi-Yuen Wang
    •  & Michael Manga

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Sinking of organic matter represents the dominant mechanism for sequestration of anthropogenic CO2in the deep sea. Here, the authors report the presence of healthy photosynthetic cells in the deep dark ocean, implying the fast injection of fresh organic carbon at depth across the global oligotrophic ocean.

    • S. Agusti
    • , J. I. González-Gordillo
    •  & C. M. Duarte

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The role played by volcanic-induced cooling in the recent warming hiatus is not accurately described in the latest phase of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project. Here, the authors use satellite and aircraft data to investigate the radiative impact of volcanic aerosols in the lowermost stratosphere since the year 2000.

    • Sandra M. Andersson
    • , Bengt G. Martinsson
    •  & Andreas Zahn

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Neodymium isotopes are tracers for past and present ocean circulation and biogeochemistry. Here, the authors combine observations of neodymium and radium isotopes in the Amazon estuary and show that the rapid release of neodymium from river suspended sediments leaves a strong imprint on coastal sea water.

    • Tristan C. C. Rousseau
    • , Jeroen E. Sonke
    •  & Catherine Jeandel

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Recent studies suggest that the Moon is not as volatile-poor as once thought, and that volatile elements should be concentrated in crustal materials. Here, the authors present Zn isotopic and abundance data as evidence of evaporative loss of volatiles during formation of the Moon, supporting alternative models.

    • Chizu Kato
    • , Frederic Moynier
    •  & James M.D. Day

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Information regarding tectonic motion from before instrumental records can be found from palaeoshorelines and the reconstruction of sea level from observations. Here, the authors study corals uplifted by past earthquakes near the Solomon Islands and assess the Holocene deformation that took place there.

    • Kaustubh Thirumalai
    • , Frederick W. Taylor
    •  & Alison K. Papabatu

  • Article |

    Due to a paucity of terrestrial data, knowledge of the size of the East Antarctic ice sheet in the past is limited. Here, the authors present isotope data of sulfates from the Lewis Cliff Ice Tongue moraine, which suggest temporary existence of ice-free conditions in central Antarctica since the Miocene.

    • Tao Sun
    • , Richard A. Socki
    •  & Eric Tonui

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Late Pliocene cooling led to the glaciation of the Northern Hemisphere, yet its trigger remains unclear. Here, the authors present neodymium and lead isotope records from the Bering Sea, and propose that the introduction of low-salinity water into the Arctic Ocean preconditioned Pliocene cooling.

    • Keiji Horikawa
    • , Ellen E. Martin
    •  & Kimitaka Kawamura

  • Article |

    Sprites, electrical discharges in the upper atmosphere, are thought to be triggered by inhomogeneities. Here the authors present numerical models and propose that mesospheric structures created by atmospheric gravity waves can initiate sprite streamers, and also provide observations supporting this theory.

    • Ningyu Liu
    • , Joseph R. Dwyer
    •  & Matthew G. McHarg

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Much hydrothermal circulation occurs away from the mid-ocean ridges and out on ridge flanks, affecting lithospheric heat deficit, solute fluxes, and influencing the biosphere. Here, the authors use 3D simulations to look at what controls the circulation and flow rate between and through seamounts.

    • Dustin M. Winslow
    •  & Andrew T. Fisher

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Recent megathrust earthquakes have been documented to cause large-scale stress changes, although this has not been identified in a fossil system. Here, the authors present data that establish a link between the observations at active subduction zones and the structural record preserved in ancient mountain belts.

    • Armin Dielforder
    • , Hauke Vollstaedt
    •  & Marco Herwegh

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The atmosphere of a transiting planet shields the stellar radiation enabling size and density stratification to be estimated. Here, the authors study Venus and show that the measured radius depends on the wavelength used, which has implications for Venus’s ionosphere and may help in planning future missions.

    • Fabio Reale
    • , Angelo F. Gambino
    •  & Giuseppe Piccioni

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