Geodynamics articles within Nature Communications

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  • Article
    | Open Access

    The mechanisms behind deformation of multiphase solids are elusive. Here, the authors use X-rays and simulations to show that the same mechanisms causing rocks to fold occur at the micrometer scale in dual-metal lamellas of Ag/Cu and Al/Cu under high-pressure torsion, leading to vortices formation.

    • Mohsen Pouryazdan
    • , Boris J. P. Kaus
    •  & Horst Hahn

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The source of the Transantarctic Mountains’ high elevation has remained unclear. Here, the authors present data from a 550 km long magnetotelluric geophysical transect showing that uplift is likely to be mechanical via cantilevered flexure along a master boundary fault and not upper mantle or lower crustal thermal mechanisms.

    • Phil Wannamaker
    • , Graham Hill
    •  & Daniel Feucht

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The recycling of continental lithosphere and rapid plateau uplift is believed to be the result of lithospheric drips, but natural examples are missing. Here, the authors use geodynamic models to suggest that the folding and thickening of the Central Anatolian arc caused lithospheric dripping of the arc root.

    • Oğuz H. Göğüş
    • , Russell N. Pysklywec
    •  & Erkan Gün

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The volcanism of subduction settings concentrates in island-arcs and back-arc basins. Here, the authors show that the lithospheric tear faults bounding roll-backing slabs may focus huge volcanism with a volume of the erupted products exceeding that of the island-arcs edifices and back-arcs spreading centres.

    • Luca Cocchi
    • , Salvatore Passaro
    •  & Guido Ventura

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Continental rifting and break up processes are poorly constrained in the early stages. Here, the authors using high-resolution numerical simulations to show how early formed faults in continental extension can then control subsequent structure evolution of rifts.

    • John B. Naliboff
    • , Susanne J. H. Buiter
    •  & Joya Tetreault

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The lithospheric controls on giant gold deposits remain unclear. Here, the authors show evidence for native gold in the mantle from the Deseado Massif in Patagonia demonstrating that refertilisation of the lithospheric mantle is key in forming metallogenic provinces.

    • Santiago Tassara
    • , José M. González-Jiménez
    •  & Alexandre Corgne

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Ultralow velocity zones are detected on the core-mantle boundary, but their origin is enigmatic. Here, the authors find that the global distribution and large variations of morphology of ultralow velocity zones are consistent with most having a compositionally-distinct origin.

    • Mingming Li
    • , Allen K. McNamara
    •  & Shule Yu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Tibetan plateau deformation is variable, but what controls those variations is still poorly understood. Here, the authors use 3D numerical models to show that the variations observed in lithosphere deformation are controlled by heterogeneities in the strength of the Asian continental crust.

    • Lin Chen
    • , Fabio A. Capitanio
    •  & Taras V. Gerya

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Ice core data show a breakdown in the long-term temperature-atmospheric CO2 correlation during interglacial-glacial transitions. Here, via a novel modelling approach, the authors reveal marine volcanism, triggered by a fall in sea level, as a likely mechanism for the observed delayed decline in atmospheric CO2.

    • Jörg Hasenclever
    • , Gregor Knorr
    •  & Ian R. Hall

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Volcanoes may cluster along volcanic arcs, but controls on cluster locations are still unclear. Here, using numerical models, the authors show that clustering along arcs is the result of inflow of hotter mantle material, and subdued inflow of colder material creating a 3D mantle flow pattern.

    • Changyeol Lee
    •  & Ikuko Wada

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The Hawaiian-Emperor Chain has a 60° bend that has been interpreted as the result of Pacific plate motion at 47 Ma or drift of the Hawaiian hotspot. Here, the authors show that hotspot drift cannot be the dominant mechanism for bend formation, but involves a change in the direction of Pacific plate motion at ∼47 Ma.

    • Trond H. Torsvik
    • , Pavel V. Doubrovine
    •  & Mathew Domeier

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The composition of the early Earth’s atmosphere remains unclear. Here, the authors using fluid inclusions trapped within quartz crystals show that at 3.3 Ga the atmosphere had a lower129Xe excess than today, and suggest that comets may have brought xenon to the Earth’s atmosphere during terrestrial accretion.

    • Guillaume Avice
    • , Bernard Marty
    •  & Ray Burgess

  • Article
    | Open Access

    How flat slabs at subduction zones are created remains unclear. Here, the authors show that the Nazca slab has retreated at ∼2 cm per year since 50 Ma but no rollback has occurred in the last ∼12 Myr in the flat slab, implying that an overpressured sub-slab mantle can impede rollback and maintain a flat slab.

    • Gerben Schepers
    • , Douwe J. J. van Hinsbergen
    •  & Nadine McQuarrie

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The age of weathering inferred from bedrock saprolite local to Scandinavia remains loosely constrained. Here, via K-Ar dating of authigenic, syn-weathering illite from saprolitic remnants, the authors constrain weathering to the Late Triassic.

    • Ola Fredin
    • , Giulio Viola
    •  & Jochen Knies

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Microstructural features of deformed rocks are used to reveal deformation stresses and temperatures. Here, the authors conduct experiments showing that misleading microstructures form during fluid-mediated mineral reactions under static conditions, and propose new criteria for microstructure identification.

    • Liene Spruzeniece
    • , Sandra Piazolo
    •  & Helen E. Maynard-Casely

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The Perm anomaly is found in the lower mantle beneath Eurasia, but how this structure formed has remained unclear. Here, the authors show that the anomaly has been mobile since it formed in isolation within a closed subduction network and propose that the anomaly is linked to the Emeishan volcanics.

    • N. Flament
    • , S. Williams
    •  & D. J. Bower

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The 2011 Tohoku-oki earthquake slip occurred on the shallowest part of the megathrust, but the nature of the shallow slip has been poorly constrained. Here, the authors model bathymetry differences before and after the earthquake to determine that the slip exceeded 60 m increasing towards the trench.

    • Tianhaozhe Sun
    • , Kelin Wang
    •  & Jiangheng He

  • Article
    | Open Access

    For half a century, the cause for recent uplift of the European Alps has been debated. Here, the authors show that ∼90% of the geodetically measured rock uplift in the Alps can be explained by the Earth’s viscoelastic response to ice melting after the Last Glacial Maximum.

    • Jürgen Mey
    • , Dirk Scherler
    •  & Manfred R. Strecker

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Large igneous provinces may record pulses mantle plume upwellings and their relationship with deep-rooted mantle sources. Madrigal et al. present a new petrological model of the Pacific Ocean Large Igneous Province finding that mantle plume pulses were separated by 10–20 Ma.

    • Pilar Madrigal
    • , Esteban Gazel
    •  & Brian Jicha

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The Altiplano-Puna magma body is located in the world's second highest plateau, the Altiplano-Puna, but the influence of melt production in the surface uplift of the Central Andes is unclear. Perkinset al. link surface topography and isotactic modelling to constrain the melt production in the magma body.

    • Jonathan P. Perkins
    • , Kevin M. Ward
    •  & Noah J. Finnegan

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The origin of the numerous linear grooves and craters that litter the Martian moon Phobos' surface remains enigmatic. Here, by modelling low-velocity escaping ejecta from impacts to Phobos, the authors show that several of these chains can be explained by reimpacting sesquinary ejecta shortly after ejection.

    • M. Nayak
    •  & E. Asphaug

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Slow earthquakes, where fault slip is slow, can be large and may help trigger regular earthquakes, but the mechanics of slow slip are not fully understood. Leeman et al.show through laboratory experiments that slow slip behaviour on faults is controlled by the frictional dynamics of the surrounding material.

    • J. R. Leeman
    • , D. M. Saffer
    •  & C. Marone

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Pyroclastic flows of the 18.8 Ma Peach Spring Tuff super-eruption travelled >170 km and entrained substrate blocks up to ∼1 m diameter. Here, the authors show that these flows had a dense base and speeds of ∼5-20 m s−1, fed by an eruption discharging magma at rates up to ∼107-108 m3 s−1for at least 2.5-10 h.

    • O. Roche
    • , D. C. Buesch
    •  & G. A. Valentine

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Plume-slab interaction and its surface expression remain poorly understood. Here, the authors compare 3-D anisotropic tomography and geodynamical models, and show that the stagnation and fastest trench retreat of the Tonga slab are consistent with an interaction with the Samoan plume and the Hikurangi plateau.

    • Sung-Joon Chang
    • , Ana M. G. Ferreira
    •  & Manuele Faccenda

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Subduction is a main component of Phanerozoic plate tectonics, although the timing of initiation is controversial. Here, the authors present microstructural data from two 3.72 billion year old dunite lenses of Isua in Greenland, which suggest that subduction was already in operation during the Eoarchaean.

    • Mary-Alix Kaczmarek
    • , Steven M. Reddy
    •  & Vickie C. Bennett

  • 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
    | 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 |

    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 |

    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 |

    The origin of bimodal (mafic–felsic) rock suites is a fundamental question in volcanology. Here, the authors present a new model for magmatic differentiation in continental igneous provinces and explain how large volumes of granitic magma can be produced in otherwise basaltic systems.

    • F. C. Meade
    • , V. R. Troll
    •  & I. Klonowska

  • Article
    | Open Access

    During continental rifting, various stages and structures are observed, the least understood being hyper-extended continental crust at magma-poor margins. Here, the authors use finite-element thermomechanical models to investigate the mechanism causing observed margin asymmetry and crustal hyper-extension.

    • Sascha Brune
    • , Christian Heine
    •  & Stephan V. Sobolev

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Pumice rafts result from volcanic eruptions into and onto water, and can be extensive and potentially hazardous, but tracking their dispersal is difficult. Jutzeler et al.combine satellite imagery and an ocean model to accurately forecast pumice raft dispersal routes.

    • Martin Jutzeler
    • , Robert Marsh
    •  & Leif Karlstrom

  • Article |

    Despite commonly occurring on Earth and other terrestrial bodies, mass wasting processes are poorly understood, hampering hazard assessment and mitigation. Lucas and colleagues propose a universal velocity-weakening friction law capable of describing the behaviour of small to large landslides.

    • Antoine Lucas
    • , Anne Mangeney
    •  & Jean Paul Ampuero

  • Article |

    Sedimentary rocks record planetary environmental history convolved with the internal dynamics of depositional landscapes. Ganti et al.show that the advection length of settling sediment sets bounds on internal landscape dynamics, providing a new tool to unravel sedimentary archives.

    • Vamsi Ganti
    • , Michael P. Lamb
    •  & Brandon McElroy

  • Article |

    The evolution of continental rifting curvature can be studied using thermal convection models. Studying how this curvature controls the subsidence of offshore basins, Sacek and Ussami find that the mantle viscosity structure affects the subsidence rate and evolution of sedimentary basins along curved margins.

    • Victor Sacek
    •  & Naomi Ussami

  • Article |

    Reconstructing short-term plate-motion changes through time provides important geodynamical information, but data noise is a problem at fine temporal resolution. This study presents a trans-dimensional hierarchical Bayesian framework that eliminates noise without loss of temporal resolution.

    • Giampiero Iaffaldano
    • , Thomas Bodin
    •  & Malcolm Sambridge

  • Article |

    The habitat where early humans, hominins, lived provides information about the early part of human evolution. In this study, sedimentological and stable carbon and oxygen isotope data suggest homininArdipithecus ramiduslived in a river-margin forest in a wooded grassland landscape at Aramis, Ethiopia.

    • M. Royhan Gani
    •  & Nahid D. Gani

  • Article |

    Active shortening in the Central Andes shifted from the western to the eastern margin between 10-7 Myr ago, but the mechanism of formation is still unclear. Here, using critical wedge theory and local-scale fault friction calculations, this shift is proposed to have been controlled by changes in erosion patterns.

    • Kevin Norton
    •  & Fritz Schlunegger

  • Article |

    SiO2 glass and helium are important in various fields of science and engineering. Sato et al. show SiO2glass to be less compressible in helium under high pressure, which may be relevant for the interpretation of high-pressure experiments and in the design of new materials.

    • Tomoko Sato
    • , Nobumasa Funamori
    •  & Takehiko Yagi

  • Article |

    The internal textures of columnar-jointed lava flows and intrusions are poorly understood. Mattssonet al. propose a melt-migration model for Icelandic basalt driven by crystallization and volume decrease inside cooling columns, which explains the macroscopic features observed in columnar-jointed basalts.

    • Hannes B. Mattsson
    • , Luca Caricchi
    •  & Ann M. Hirt

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