Earth and environmental sciences articles within Nature Communications

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  • Article
    | Open Access

    The last interglacial has been suggested as a test bed for models developed for future climate prediction, yet many climatic parameters remain unknown. Here, the authors present a precisely dated fossil coral and show that temperature seasonality in the southern Caribbean Sea 118 ka was similar to today.

    • Thomas Felis
    • , Cyril Giry
    •  & Sander R. Scheffers

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Upward electrical discharges from thunderstorms were discovered recently, and only a very limited set of observations exist because they are rare and unpredictable. Here, the authors present recordings of different types of the discharge above a storm, which contradict current theories of their origins.

    • Ningyu Liu
    • , Nicholas Spiva
    •  & Steven A. Cummer

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Although phase transitions are fundamental for understanding aerosol particles, current models are insufficient to explain observations at the nanoscale. Here, the authors present a method for investigating droplets, suggesting particle size is a key determinant in the phase diagram of nanoparticles.

    • Yafang Cheng
    • , Hang Su
    •  & Ulrich Pöschl

  • Article |

    Suspended dust and sea salt are currently considered to be two major sources of environmental aerosol particles. Here, Joung and Buie report another mechanism of aerosol generation from rainfall impact on porous soil surfaces, whereby elements can be delivered to the air.

    • Young Soo Joung
    •  & Cullen R. Buie

  • Article |

    The effects of forests on water yield are uncertain, with some studies indicating that increased evapotranspiration reduces water yield and other showing that forests increase it. Here, the authors analyse published data to settle this debate, finding that afforestation has a positive effect on water yield.

    • Guoyi Zhou
    • , Xiaohua Wei
    •  & Yongxian Su

  • Article |

    Slow slip events have been observed in different subduction zones, but their relationship to megathrust earthquakes remains elusive. Here, the authors postulate that a transient event may have led to the 2011 Tohoku earthquake as the hypocentre falls within a zone of positive Coloumb stress change.

    • Yusuke Yokota
    •  & Kazuki Koketsu

  • Article |

    Understanding how corals may react to ocean acidification is hampered due to a lack of insight into how corals source the inorganic carbon required to build their skeletons. Here, the authors show that corals are able to concentrate dissolved carbon and that bicarbonate contributes to the carbon pool used to build their skeletons.

    • Nicola Allison
    • , Itay Cohen
    •  & Alexander W. Tudhope

  • Article |

    Marine sedimentary 231Pa/230Th ratios are considered a promising tool for the investigation of past modes of ocean circulation. Here, the authors present a compilation of new and existing Atlantic sedimentary 231Pa/230Th ratios and interpret these data in the context of abrupt cooling during Heinrich Stadial 1.

    • Louisa I. Bradtmiller
    • , Jerry F. McManus
    •  & Laura F. Robinson

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Natural examples of eclogite-derived migmatite were previously unknown. Here, the authors show evidence of high-pressure melting of eclogite in the Sulu orogen of China, and suggest the melts represent an exhumed example of flow channels in the lower crust, possibly a source of syn-exhumation magmas.

    • Lu Wang
    • , Timothy M. Kusky
    •  & Jianmin Fu

  • Article |

    How volcanoes and the cryosphere interact is of interest for understanding hazard mitigation at ice-clad volcanoes and for paleoclimate studies. Here, the authors provide quantitative details from an eruption in Kamchatka, demonstrating that two kinds of lava, ′a′a and pahoehoe, produced different snowpack responses.

    • B. R. Edwards
    • , A. Belousov
    •  & M. Belousova

  • Article |

    Andesites are a large part of the continental crust, but their origins remain enigmatic. Here, the authors update older mixing models via high-temperature experiments and thermal calculations, showing that homogeneous mixtures are only possible with high mafic fractions and during high magma flux.

    • Mickael Laumonier
    • , Bruno Scaillet
    •  & Laurent Arbaret

  • Article |

    Infrared spectral mapping offers the non-destructive analyses of samples; however, the spatial resolution is restricted to >10 microns. Here, the authors present a new infrared technique capable of sub-micron scale mineral identification, demonstrated using a chondrule and a cometary dust grain.

    • Gerardo Dominguez
    • , A. S. Mcleod
    •  & D. N. Basov

  • Article |

    Trace elements and their isotopes are powerful as tracers in the modern ocean and proxies for oceans of the past, although there are limited data for elements such as copper. Here, the authors present copper isotope data from both seawater and rainwater, providing insight into marine biogeochemical cycling.

    • Shotaro Takano
    • , Masaharu Tanimizu
    •  & Yoshiki Sohrin

  • Article |

    Palaeoclimate research often focuses on continental, hemispheric and global scales, neglecting the local-scale changes of most importance to human adaptation. Here, the authors propose a new tree-ring-based methodology, capable of producing high-frequency, highly local climate-field reconstructions.

    • R. Kyle Bocinsky
    •  & Timothy A. Kohler

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Reporting earthquakes, including location and focal mechanism, in real time is a challenge. Here, the authors present an approach similar to a web search engine, estimating earthquake parameters by searching a large database within a second, which will potentially enable early warning systems.

    • Jie Zhang
    • , Haijiang Zhang
    •  & Xiong Zhang

  • Article |

    Reconstructing past sea ice coverage in the Arctic is important for future climate predictions. Here, the authors present a new sea ice record from the Eurasian sector of the Arctic Ocean and report that Arctic sea ice reached its modern winter maximum for the first time 2.6 million years ago.

    • Jochen Knies
    • , Patricia Cabedo-Sanz
    •  & Antoni Rosell-Melé

  • Article |

    Deep tectonic processes are considered to be responsible for stress loading of faults over a seismic cycle. Here, the authors use a mechanical model to demonstrate that erosion also significantly influences the stress loading of faults on this short time scale, potentially leading to fault failure and earthquakes.

    • Philippe Steer
    • , Martine Simoes
    •  & J. Bruce H. Shyu

  • Review Article |

    Carbon mitigation is considered an important and viable pathway towards climate stabilization, but competition for land is high. Here, Canadell and Schulze consider the sustainable implementation of a number of land-based biological carbon mitigation activities and assess the carbon savings achievable by 2050.

    • Josep G. Canadell
    •  & E. Detlef Schulze

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Wheat is the world’s second most favoured food source, yet its production has climatic consequences. Here the authors quantify the carbon footprint of wheat production systems and evaluate potential alternative farming practices, with a reduced negative impact on climate.

    • Yantai Gan
    • , Chang Liang
    •  & Robert P. Zentner

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Extreme winter flooding has caused devastation across Europe in recent years, highlighting the need for improved forecasts. Here, the authors show that the use of water vapour transport, rather than precipitation in weather prediction models, can extend the forecast horizon by as much as 3 days.

    • David A. Lavers
    • , Florian Pappenberger
    •  & Ervin Zsoter

  • Article |

    Understanding of the Earth’s interior requires insight into the thermal properties of silicate melts under high pressure. Here, the authors present high-pressure spectroscopic measurements of iron-enriched dense silicate glasses and infer the radiative conductivity of dense melts at the core–mantle boundary.

    • Motohiko Murakami
    • , Alexander F. Goncharov
    •  & Craig R. Bina

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Submarine mud volcanoes are difficult to observe from the sea surface and previous recordings at depth have been short term. Here, the authors provide the first long-term monitoring from Håkon Mosby and suggest that mud volcanoes may be more important to the global methane budget than previously thought.

    • Tomas Feseker
    • , Antje Boetius
    •  & Dirk de Beer

  • Article |

    Aquatic methane originates in anoxic sediments and bottom waters, but some studies suggest it may also come from the oxic water column. Here, the authors experimentally confirm this hypothesis, and explore the rates, controls and biochemical pathways of oxic water methanogenesis.

    • Matthew J Bogard
    • , Paul A del Giorgio
    •  & Alison M Derry

  • Article |

    The West Gondwana Orogen is a major continental collision zone exposing numerous eclogites along its strike. Here, the authors present zircon data from eclogites in Mali, Togo and NE Brazil, which indicate that continental subduction occurred simultaneously over at least 2,500 km during the Ediacaran.

    • Carlos E. Ganade de Araujo
    • , Daniela Rubatto
    •  & Miguel A. S. Basei

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Excessive nutrient loading is a threat to aquatic ecosystems; however, denitrification may be key in removing large amounts of reactive nitrogen and, therefore, mitigating consequent eutrophication. Here, the authors explore how meiofauna may impact the rate of denitrification in sediments.

    • S. Bonaglia
    • , F. J. A Nascimento
    •  & V. Brüchert

  • Article |

    Carbonate melt is one of the most important materials involved in the carbon cycle of the Earth’s interior; however, its mobility is poorly understood. Here, the authors suggest that carbonate melts possess much lower viscosities than previously thought, which in turn suggest very high mobility.

    • Yoshio Kono
    • , Curtis Kenney-Benson
    •  & Craig E. Manning

  • Article |

    Methane is a significant contributor to greenhouse forcing, and determining its fluxes and reservoirs is important in understanding the methane cycle. Here, the authors investigate microbial methane oxidation in carbonates of the deep sea that represent a previously unrecognized biological sink for methane.

    • Jeffrey J. Marlow
    • , Joshua A. Steele
    •  & Victoria J. Orphan

  • Article |

    Tropical forest deforestation is a major source of CO2emissions, yet potential additional emissions through the creation of forest edge areas has been largely overlooked. Here, the authors combine remote sensing and knowledge on spatial processes to estimate carbon loss due to forest fragmentation.

    • Sandro Pütz
    • , Jürgen Groeneveld
    •  & Andreas Huth

  • Article |

    The Antarctic ice sheets contribution to rising sea levels at the end of the last ice age remains a matter of debate. Here, the authors present a suite of ice-sheet modelling experiments and conclude that the retreating Antarctic ice sheet may have contributed as much as 0.7 m per century to meltwater pulse 1A.

    • N. R. Golledge
    • , L. Menviel
    •  & R. H. Levy

  • Article |

    The delivery of meltwater to the base of the Greenland Ice Sheet has been shown to regulate ice flow, yet the role of soft basal sediment is unknown. Here, the authors use a three-dimensional ice sheet model to assess the impact of seasonal meltwater delivery on subglacial sediment shear strength and ice flow.

    • M. Bougamont
    • , P. Christoffersen
    •  & S. P. Carter

  • Article |

    Detailed sea-level records beyond ~150,000 years ago are limited. Here, the authors present a radiometrically constrained sea-level record from the Red Sea, spanning five glacial cycles and examine sea-level rise rates and the effects of past global ice-volume changes on monsoon intensity.

    • K. M. Grant
    • , E. J. Rohling
    •  & F. Williams

  • Article |

    Unlike most aerosols, black carbon absorbs solar radiation, potentially warming the atmosphere, yet its total climate effect remains uncertain. Here, the authors use a chemical transport and global circulation model to investigate the impact of black carbon emissions on global, annual mean radiative forcing.

    • Øivind Hodnebrog
    • , Gunnar Myhre
    •  & Bjørn H. Samset

  • Article |

    Large igneous province subduction is a rare process with many unknowns. Timm et al.present geochemical and geophysical data providing insights into the Hikurangi Plateau subduction and its impact on arc volcanism, identifying a missing piece of the Ontong Java–Manihiki–Hikurangi super plateau.

    • Christian Timm
    • , Bryan Davy
    •  & John A. Gamble

  • Article |

    Synoptic-scale atmospheric pressure patterns control moisture delivery and thus drought occurrence across western North America, yet long-term records are lacking. Here, the authors use a novel combination of tree-ring data and self-organizing maps to reconstruct and analyse pressure patterns since AD 1500.

    • Erika K. Wise
    •  & Matthew P. Dannenberg

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