Geodynamics articles within Nature

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  • Article |

    Recent sequences of reverse-faulting earthquakes at the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and the Carlsberg Ridge show that tectonic extension at mid-ocean ridge axes can be partially undone by tectonic shortening across the ridge flanks.

    • Jean-Arthur Olive
    • , Göran Ekström
    •  & Manon Bickert

  • Article
    | Open Access

    We provide observational evidence that suggests the presence of a molten silicate layer above the core of Mars, which is overlain by a partially molten layer, indicating that the core of Mars is smaller than previously thought.

    • Henri Samuel
    • , Mélanie Drilleau
    •  & William B. Banerdt

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The ages and geochemical compositions of inclusions of sublithospheric diamonds indicate additions to the mantle keel of Gondwana by the underplating of buoyant subducted material, originating from 300–700-km depth, which may have contributed to supercontinent stability during long-distance migration.

    • Suzette Timmerman
    • , Thomas Stachel
    •  & D. Graham Pearson

  • Article |

    New experiments show that most carbonates in carbonate-rich crustal rocks survive devolatilization and hydrous melting in cold and warm subduction zones, demonstrating their role in driving the deep carbon and chlorine cycles since the Mesoproterozoic.

    • Chunfei Chen
    • , Michael W. Förster
    •  & Svyatoslav S. Shcheka

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Titanium isotope measurements for chondrites, ancient terrestrial mantle-derived lavas and modern ocean island basalts imply the preservation of a primordial lower-mantle reservoir for most of Earth’s geologic history.

    • Zhengbin Deng
    • , Martin Schiller
    •  & Martin Bizzarro

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Most kimberlites erupting in the past billion years on Earth did so about 30 million years after continental breakup, with dynamical and analytical models suggesting a control from rifting-related mantle delamination.

    • Thomas M. Gernon
    • , Stephen M. Jones
    •  & Anne Glerum

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Magnetic palaeointensity data from the Barberton Greenstone Belt (South Africa) as well as the Jack Hills (Western Australia) show nearly constant palaeofield values between 3.9 Ga and 3.4 Ga, providing evidence for stagnant-lid mantle convection.

    • John A. Tarduno
    • , Rory D. Cottrell
    •  & Gautam Mitra

  • Article |

    Oxygen isotope compositions of dated magmatic zircon show that the Pilbara Craton in Western Australia, Earth’s best-preserved Archaean continental remnant, was built in three stages initiated by a giant meteorite impact.

    • Tim E. Johnson
    • , Christopher L. Kirkland
    •  & Michael I. H. Hartnady

  • Article |

    Using the new Beaumont number presented, it is concluded that the topographic evolution of collisional mountain belts is determined by the combination of plate velocity, crustal rheology and surface process efficiency.

    • Sebastian G. Wolf
    • , Ritske S. Huismans
    •  & Xiaoping Yuan

  • Article |

    Reconstruction of one billion years of mantle flow shows that mobile basal mantle structures are just as consistent with the Earth’s volcanic history as are fixed mantle structures.

    • Nicolas Flament
    • , Ömer F. Bodur
    •  & Andrew S. Merdith

  • Article |

    At temperatures and pressures typical of the Earth’s lower mantle, cubic CaSiO3 perovskite is found to have lower strength and viscosity compared to bridgmanite and ferropericlase, providing clues to its role in subduction regions.

    • J. Immoor
    • , L. Miyagi
    •  & H. Marquardt

  • Article
    | Open Access

    X-ray diffraction experiments indicate that the depression of the Earth’s 660-kilometre seismic discontinuity beneath cold subduction zones is caused by a phase transition from akimotoite to bridgmanite, leading to slab stagnation.

    • Artem Chanyshev
    • , Takayuki Ishii
    •  & Tomoo Katsura

  • Article |

    A modelling study describing the formation of the polygonal surface structures in Sputnik Planitia on Pluto shows that convection driven by ice sublimation can generate planetary-scale surface patterns.

    • Adrien Morison
    • , Stéphane Labrosse
    •  & Gaël Choblet

  • Review Article |

    Cratons are the oldest parts of the Earth’s continents; this Review concludes that the production of widespread, thick and strong lithosphere via the process of orogenic thickening was fundamental to the eventual emergence of extensive continental landmasses.

    • D. Graham Pearson
    • , James M. Scott
    •  & Peter B. Kelemen

  • Article |

    Analysis of global three-dimensional shear attenuation and velocity models implies that partial melting in the seismic low-velocity zone enables motion of oceanic plates by reducing the viscosity of the asthenosphere.

    • Eric Debayle
    • , Thomas Bodin
    •  & Yanick Ricard

  • Article |

    Modelling reveals how thick diamondiferous continental mantle ‘keels’ were formed only at increased mantle temperatures when the melt-depleted, hot, ductile mantle located under subducting oceanic plates flowed backwards, underplating the continents.

    • A. L. Perchuk
    • , T. V. Gerya
    •  & W. L. Griffin

  • Article |

    Observed global-mean sea-level rise since 1900 is reconciled with estimates based on the contributing processes, revealing budget closure within uncertainties and showing ice-mass loss from glaciers as a dominant contributor.

    • Thomas Frederikse
    • , Felix Landerer
    •  & Yun-Hao Wu

  • Letter |

    Variability in Earth’s thermal gradients, recorded by metamorphic rocks through time, shows that Earth’s modern plate tectonics developed gradually since the Neoarchaean era, three billion years ago.

    • Robert M. Holder
    • , Daniel R. Viete
    •  & Tim E. Johnson

  • Letter |

    The formation of Bermuda sampled a previously unknown mantle reservoir that is characterized by silica-undersaturated melts enriched in volatiles and by a unique lead isotopic signature, which suggests that the source is young.

    • Sarah E. Mazza
    • , Esteban Gazel
    •  & Alexander V. Sobolev

  • Letter |

    An inversion model for the ultraslow-spreading Mohns Ridge, combining controlled source electromagnetic and magnetotelluric data, reveals passive mantle upwelling controlled by slow and asymmetric plate movements.

    • Ståle Emil Johansen
    • , Martin Panzner
    •  & Børge Arntsen

  • Article |

    The current phase of subduction of the Nazca slab was established in the Peruvian Andes after a plate reorganization around 80 million years ago and then propagated progressively southwards.

    • Yi-Wei Chen
    • , Jonny Wu
    •  & John Suppe

  • Letter |

    During continent collision and associated mountain building, a surprisingly large volume of the lower crust is shown to be affected by earthquake aftershocks, producing a top-down effect on crustal geodynamics.

    • Bjørn Jamtveit
    • , Yehuda Ben-Zion
    •  & Håkon Austrheim

  • Letter |

    Ancient shorelines on Mars must have formed before and during the emplacement of the Tharsis volcanic province, instead of afterwards as previously assumed, suggesting that oceans on Mars formed early.

    • Robert I. Citron
    • , Michael Manga
    •  & Douglas J. Hemingway

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