Geochemistry articles within Nature Communications

Featured

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The Cambrian is the most poorly dated period of the past 541 million years. Here, the authors present a new astronomical time scale, allowing for a first assessment, in numerical time, of the evolution of major biotic and abiotic changes that characterized the late Cambrian Earth.

    • Zhengfu Zhao
    • , Nicolas R. Thibault
    •  & Arne T. Nielsen

  • Article
    | Open Access

    River networks play an important role in biogeochemical processes of the earth system. Here the authors show that cumulative river network function increases faster than watershed size for many biogeochemical processes, particularly at higher river flow, indicating large rivers contribute disproportionately to network function in the Earth System.

    • Wilfred M. Wollheim
    • , Tamara K. Harms
    •  & Jacques C. Finlay

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The geochemical record of subduction initiation is still not well understood, despite >50 years of study. Here, the authors use boron isotopes in Izu-Bonin boninites to document rapid changes in slab inputs to melting at the start of subduction, related to the steepening and cooling of the downgoing Pacific plate.

    • Hong-Yan Li
    • , Xiang Li
    •  & Yi-Gang Xu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The co-evolution of oxygenation of the Earth’s atmosphere and lithosphere is still poorly constrained. However, the oxidation state of manganese minerals reveals that the redox state of Earth’s crust responds to changes in atmospheric oxygen following a ~66 million-year time lag.

    • Daniel R. Hummer
    • , Joshua J. Golden
    •  & Robert M. Hazen

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Yokoo et al. find the liquid immiscibility between H-rich and S-rich liquids Fe above 20 GPa. The separation of immiscible liquids could explain the disappearance of Mars’ magnetic field and the formation of low-velocity layer atop the Earth’s core.

    • Shunpei Yokoo
    • , Kei Hirose
    •  & Yasuo Ohishi

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The origin of the observed low shear wave velocity in the solid inner core is unclear. Here, the authors report shear wave velocities of iron and iron-silicon alloy under Earth’s core conditions by shock compression and find that neither the effect of temperature nor incorporation of Si can explain observed low shear wave velocity in the inner core.

    • Haijun Huang
    • , Lili Fan
    •  & Yingwei Fei

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The Main Magnetite Layer of the Bushveld Complex of South Africa is an economically important deposit of Fe, Ti and V but its mode of formation is enigmatic. Models of fractional crystallization and reactive transport show that it probably accumulated as a loose mush and subsequently was compacted rather than forming in situ.

    • Zhuosen Yao
    •  & James E. Mungall

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Hydrated mantle rocks store a significant amount of organic and inorganic carbon, impacting the geological cycle. During subduction the carbonate return to the upper plate while organic carbon remains trapped to be recycled in the deep earth.

    • P. Bouilhol
    • , B. Debret
    •  & K. W. Burton

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Variable dominance of distinct microbial communities during the late Ediacaran, recorded in C and N cycles perturbations and in Raman structural heterogeneities of organic matter, modulated the recovery from the most negative δ13Ccarb excursion in Earth’s history.

    • Fuencisla Cañadas
    • , Dominic Papineau
    •  & Chao Li

  • Comment
    | Open Access

    Though the lunar samples returned by the Apollo and Luna missions have been studied for more than 50 years, scientists are discovering new clues into the early evolution of the Moon by looking through the lens of modern analytical techniques.

    • Tabb C. Prissel
    •  & Kelsey B. Prissel

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The ultimate driver of ultraslow spreading ridges is unknown. Here the authors use spreading rates derived directly from isotopic ages of seafloor samples to link magmatic and amagmatic segments with thermochemical variations in the upper mantle.

    • John M. O’Connor
    • , Wilfried Jokat
    •  & Anthony A. P. Koppers

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Experiments show that when magma heats black shale wall-rock, fluids form and mobilize S and Cu, which can then concentrate and form base metal deposits. The fluids also attach to sulphide droplets and cause them to float in the host silicate melt.

    • Ville J. Virtanen
    • , Jussi S. Heinonen
    •  & Karina Moslova

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Knowing how individual water molecules interact with surfaces is crucial for understanding surface and interface phenomena. Here, the authors show how local water-water interactions enable an unforeseen and surprisingly rapid mechanism of atom exchange between a common mineral and its surroundings.

    • Zdenek Jakub
    • , Matthias Meier
    •  & Gareth S. Parkinson

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Isotopically light oxygen in mantle derived magmas is generally attributed to the occurrence of deeply subducted crustal material in the mantle. New analyses of olivine in kimberlites worldwide suggest that assimilation of lithospheric mantle during magma ascent is the source of isotopically light oxygen in these, and, potentially other continental magmas.

    • Jing-Yao Xu
    • , Andrea Giuliani
    •  & William L. Griffin

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Quantifying the tempo of large-volume silicic magma generation and eruption is a long-standing but elusive task. Here we show that the three largest sequentially dated eruptions, totaling >4,300 km3, occurred within 48 ± 34 kyr and yield the highest known long term volumetric extrusive rate of silicic volcanism on Earth.

    • Jennifer E. Thines
    • , Ingrid A. Ukstins
    •  & Mark Schmitz

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The emplacement of the Karoo LIP occurred synchronously with the Toarcian crisis, which is characterized by negative carbon isotope excursions. Here the authors use carbon cycle modelling to show that thermogenic carbon released during LIP emplacement represents a plausible source for the negative excursions.

    • Thea H. Heimdal
    • , Yves Goddéris
    •  & Henrik H. Svensen

  • Article
    | Open Access

    How far back in time plate tectonics operated on Earth is debated because of a paucity of geological evidence for horizontal plate motions. Here the authors show that plates moved laterally by >3500 kilometres 2.7–2.5 billion years ago, demonstrating plate tectonics in the Archean Eon, when life developed on Earth.

    • Yating Zhong
    • , Timothy Kusky
    •  & Hao Deng

  • Article
    | Open Access

    How the subducted oceanic lithosphere provides fluids and melts to flux the subarc mantle source of arc magmas is controversial. Here the authors use Mo and other isotopes to show serpentinites formed in both the forearc mantle and the subducted lithosphere contribute to generating arc magmas.

    • Hong-Yan Li
    • , Rui-Peng Zhao
    •  & Yi-Gang Xu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Platinum group elements are used as tracers for planetary and PGE sulfide deposit formation. Here, the authors, through the measurements of Pt and Pd partition coefficients between sulfide liquid and basaltic melt, demonstrate that the partitioning of Pt and Pd does not obey Henry’s law.

    • Mingdong Zhang
    •  & Yuan Li

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Rivers are increasingly plagued by “syndromes”, i.e. salinization, mineralization, desalinization, acidification, alkalization, hardening and softening. A global look at river biogeochemistry reveals dramatically increased flux estimates and anthropogenic drivers of syndromes.

    • Jiang Wu
    • , Nan Xu
    •  & Jinren Ni

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Global climate changes triggered by massive output of greenhouse gases led to mass extinctions in Earth’s past. Here, the authors show that widespread release of methane at the time of the end-Triassic mass extinction was caused by interaction of a Large Igneous Province with sedimentary host-rocks.

    • Manfredo Capriolo
    • , Andrea Marzoli
    •  & Csaba Szabó

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Harmful algal and bacterial blooms are increasingly frequent in lakes and rivers. From the Sydney Basin, Australia, this study uses fossil, sedimentary and geochemical data to reveal bloom events following forest ecosystem collapse during the end-Permian event and that blooms have consistently followed warming-related extinction events, inhibiting the recovery of freshwater ecosystems for millennia.

    • Chris Mays
    • , Stephen McLoughlin
    •  & Vivi Vajda

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Chemically variable primitive basalts undergo mixing during ascent from the mantle. Here the authors show observations from magma–magma reaction experiments which demonstrate how isothermal mixing between chemically variable basalts creates and modifies crystal cargoes erupted in oceanic settings.

    • David A. Neave
    • , Philipp Beckmann
    •  & François Holtz

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Ultramafic olivine-rich achondrites provide insight into the missing mantle problem in the asteroid belt. The petrology and geochemistry of these samples suggests they are related to Vesta or the Vestoids.

    • Zoltan Vaci
    • , James M. D. Day
    •  & Andreas Pack

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The Paleocene–Eocene boundary coincided with runaway global warming possibly analogous to future climate change, but the sources of greenhouse gasses have remained unresolved. Here, the authors reveal volcanism triggered initial warming, and subsequent carbon was released after crossing a tipping point.

    • Sev Kender
    • , Kara Bogus
    •  & Melanie J. Leng

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Episodic magmatism of the early Andes is the result of a complex interplay between mantle, crust, slab and sediment contributions that can be traced using zircon chemistry. An external (tectonic) model is argued for the episodic plutonism in this extensional continental arc.

    • José Joaquín Jara
    • , Fernando Barra
    •  & Diego Morata

  • Article
    | Open Access

    We discover a pervasive subduction influence in the Arctic, Atlantic and Indian mantle, which is nearly absent in the Pacific mantle. Such a hemispheric-scale upper mantle heterogeneity reflects the control of a “subduction shield” that has surrounded the Pacific Ocean for 180 Myr.

    • A. Y. Yang
    • , C. H. Langmuir
    •  & Z. Chen

  • Article
    | Open Access

    How early photosynthesizers managed oxidative stress remains relatively unresolved. Analyses of enzymes dealing with reactive oxygen species traces the evolutionary history of superoxide dismutases and finds evidence of CuZnSOD in the ancestor of all cyanobacteria, dating back to the Archaean.

    • Joanne S. Boden
    • , Kurt O. Konhauser
    •  & Patricia Sánchez-Baracaldo

  • Perspective
    | Open Access

    Vast, ancient impact basins scattered mantle materials across the lunar surface. We review lunar evolution models to identify candidate mantle lithologies, then assess orbital observations to evalutae the current distribution of these materials and implications for fundamental planetary processes.

    • Daniel P. Moriarty III
    • , Nick Dygert
    •  & Noah E. Petro

  • Article
    | Open Access

    This paper reveals that potassic alteration can be triggered by Na-rich fluids, indicating that pervasive sequential sodic and potassic alterations associated with mineralization in some of the world’s largest ore deposits may not necessarily reflect externally-driven changes in fluid alkali contents.

    • Gan Duan
    • , Rahul Ram
    •  & Joël Brugger

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Plastics are major marine pollutants, and while research suggests that they can release potential harmful additives into seawater, how environmental conditions influence this is unknown. Here the authors determine that byproducts released from microplastics are less under deep-sea conditions versus surface.

    • Vincent Fauvelle
    • , Marc Garel
    •  & Richard Sempéré

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Carbonate mineral aqueous solubility decreases as carbonates become more Mg-rich during subduction. Coupled with regional variations in amounts of carbon and water subducted, this explains discrepancies in estimates of carbon recycling, suggesting that only around a third returns to the surface.

    • Stefan Farsang
    • , Marion Louvel
    •  & Simon A. T. Redfern

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Elevated Zn isotope compositions occur in K-Pg sedimentary layers of three different depositional environments across North America and the Caribbean. The data indicate a volatilization event, and act as a robust mechanistic indicator of the meteorite impact at the end of the Cretaceous.

    • Ryan Mathur
    • , Brandon Mahan
    •  & Francisca E. Oboh-Ikuenobe

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Reactions at the interface between mineral surfaces and flowing liquids are ubiquitous in nature. Here the authors explore, using surface-specific sum frequency generation spectroscopy and numeric calculations, how the liquid flow affects the charging and dissolution rates leading to flow-dependent charge gradients along the surface.

    • Patrick Ober
    • , Willem Q. Boon
    •  & Mischa Bonn

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Arc olivines are commonly explained through a paradigm of core-to-rim sequential growth and oscillatory zoning is interpreted to represent magma mixing. Here the authors show Fo–Ni–P oscillatory zoned olivines can grow as out-of-sequence crystal frames and complex zoning can occur in closed systems.

    • Pablo Salas
    • , Philipp Ruprecht
    •  & Osvaldo Rabbia

Browse broader subjects

Browse Geochemistry across other nature.com journals