Solid Earth sciences articles within Nature Communications

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  • Article
    | Open Access

    The Tibetan plateau is manifested by contrasting along-strike lithospheric structures, but the correlation with multi-terrane configuration remains challenging. Here, the authors show the crucial roles of the original geometric shape of accreted terranes in regulating the lithospheric evolution of Tibetan plateau.

    • Pengpeng Huangfu
    • , Zhong-Hai Li
    •  & Yaolin Shi

  • Article
    | Open Access

    River networks worldwide follow the emblematic Hack’s Law, which expresses the length of a stream as a function of its watershed area. Here the authors show this law does not depend on lithology or rainfall, but on the shape of watersheds and confirms the self-similarity of river networks.

    • Timothée Sassolas-Serrayet
    • , Rodolphe Cattin
    •  & Matthieu Ferry

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Lamprophyres represent hydrous alkaline mantle melts that are a unique source of information about the composition of continental lithosphere. Here the authors use isotopic compositions of lamprophyres to map a hidden terrain boundary and an unknown fragment of Armorica in the mantle lithosphere of southwest Britain.

    • Arjan H. Dijkstra
    •  & Callum Hatch

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The degree to which small and large earthquakes share the same rupture processes remains unknown. Here, the authors reveal earthquakes of magnitude 3–5 share almost identical growth processes shared, but while they are controlled by some characteristic structures, their final size remains unpredictable.

    • Takashi Okuda
    •  & Satoshi Ide

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Creeping serpentinite shear zones may host large earthquakes, but direct evidence of frictional heating and rupture have been missing. Here, the authors demonstrate via laboratory experiments that earthquake ruptures can propagate through serpentinite shear zones shown by high-temperature reaction products.

    • Matthew S. Tarling
    • , Steven A. F. Smith
    •  & James M. Scott

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Great megathrust earthquakes arise from the sudden release of strain accumulated during centuries of interseismic plate convergence. Here, the authors reconstruct interseismic strain accumulation since the 1960 Chile earthquake, finding a transient evolution at decadal scale with implications for estimating the probability of future events.

    • Daniel Melnick
    • , Shaoyang Li
    •  & Zhiguo Deng

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Crustal melting may play a fundamental role in orogenic processes, but quantifying crustal melt remains difficult. Here, the authors combine pressure-temperature paths, electrical conductivity and geophysical data to elucidate the melting conditions in Tibet since the Miocene.

    • Jinyu Chen
    • , Fabrice Gaillard
    •  & Guillaume Richard

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The oxidised nature of arc magmas is either attributed to recycling from the slab or magma differentiation. Here, the authors show that oxidised iron and sulfur, respectively in sub-arc mantle spinel and glass inclusions with elevated U/Th, Pb/Ce, Sr/Nd and δ34S, trace dehydration products of slab serpentinites.

    • Antoine Bénard
    • , Kevin Klimm
    •  & Dmitri A. Ionov

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Measuring rivers’ sediment discharge is critical to assess continental erosion and landscape dynamics, yet it remains a challenging task. Here the authors show that GRACE satellite helps quantifying river sediment discharge by measuring the increment in gravitational attraction due to sediment accumulation.

    • Maxime Mouyen
    • , Laurent Longuevergne
    •  & Cécile Robin

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Soil thickness is a key parameter in earth system models, yet how it varies spatially at catchment scales is largely unknown due to measurement challenges. Here, the authors show that a continuous field of thicknesses can be predicted using high-resolution topography and a few soil thickness measurements.

    • Nicholas R. Patton
    • , Kathleen A. Lohse
    •  & Mark S. Seyfried

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Methane venting is a widespread phenomenon at the Cascadia margin, however a comprehensive database of methane vents at this margin is lacking. Here the authors show that the margin-wide average methane flow-rate ranges from ~4 × 106 to ~1590 × 106 kg y−1 and is on average around 88 ± 6 × 106 kg y−1.

    • M. Riedel
    • , M. Scherwath
    •  & G. D. Spence

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Lithium, an increasingly economically important element, is also used to trace the cycling of materials through the Earth system. Here the authors show that post-eruptive processes such as degassing and groundmass crystallisation control the inventory of lithium in volcanic deposits.

    • B. S. Ellis
    • , D. Szymanowski
    •  & M. Guillong

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Across all glaciers, ice caps, and ice sheets, the gravitational driving stress, and therefore the average basal shear stress falls in a narrow range that tops out around 1 bar. Here, the authors show that the mechanical resistance posed by heterogeneous infiltration of ice into sediments governs the peak bed strength.

    • Colin R. Meyer
    • , Anthony S. Downey
    •  & Alan W. Rempel

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The West Antarctic rift system, which divides the East and West Antarctic plates, was believed to be active until 26 Myr. Here, the authors demonstrate through new geophysical data that rifting within the West Antarctic rift system lasted until 11 Myr, providing a new interpretation on the development of Antarctica.

    • Roi Granot
    •  & Jérôme Dyment

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The nature and stability of carbon dioxide under extreme conditions relevant to the Earth’s mantle is still under debate, in view of its possible role within the deep carbon cycle. Here, the authors perform high-pressure experiments providing evidence that polymeric crystalline CO2 is stable under megabaric conditions.

    • Kamil F. Dziubek
    • , Martin Ende
    •  & Ronald Miletich

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Understanding the physics of fault lubrication during earthquake propagation can help assess seismic hazard. In this study, by replicating earthquakes in the laboratory at upper-crustal conditions, the authors show that fluid thermodynamics control fault lubrication, specifically at man-made earthquake depths.

    • M. Acosta
    • , F. X. Passelègue
    •  & M. Violay

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The role Tibetan Plateau uplift played in Asian inland aridification remains unclear due to a paucity of accurately dated records. Here, the authors present a continuous aeolian sequence for the period >51–39 Ma, analysis of which indicates that aridification was driven by global climatic forcing rather than uplift.

    • J. X. Li
    • , L. P. Yue
    •  & Q. S. Liu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The termination of the Marinoan snowball Earth event marks one of the most drastic transitions in Earth history, but the oceanic response remains unclear. Here, the authors’ integrated analysis demonstrates that the ocean experienced transient but widespread euxinia following this Snowball Earth event.

    • Xianguo Lang
    • , Bing Shen
    •  & Haoran Ma

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Earthquakes rarely affect hydrothermal systems in non-magmatic context. Here the authors report outbursts of CO2 and hydrothermal disturbances triggered by the 2015 Nepal earthquake, revealing high sensitivity of Himalayan hydrothermal systems to co-, post- and possibly pre- seismic deformation.

    • Frédéric Girault
    • , Lok Bijaya Adhikari
    •  & Frédéric Perrier

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Rapid tremor migration in subduction zones has been associated with aseismic, shear strain at the plate interface. Here, the authors develop a physical model that shows that pore-pressure waves at the plate interface are likely to generate secondary slip fronts triggering rapid tremor migrations with speeds and pathways similar to those observed in subduction zones.

    • Víctor M. Cruz-Atienza
    • , Carlos Villafuerte
    •  & Harsha S. Bhat

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Mélange rocks are predicted to form at the slab-mantle interface in most subduction zones, but their role in arc magmatism is still debated. Here, the authors show that melting of peridotite hybridized by mélange rocks produces melts that carry the major and trace element abundances of natural arc magmas.

    • E. A. Codillo
    • , V. Le Roux
    •  & H. R. Marschall

  • Review Article
    | Open Access

    Eruptive styles at a single volcano may transition from explosive to effusive behaviour (or vice versa) at any given time. This review examines the underlying controls on eruptive styles such as magma viscosity, degassing and conduit geometry at volcanoes with silicic compositions.

    • Mike Cassidy
    • , Michael Manga
    •  & Olivier Bachmann

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The onset of modern-style plate tectonics remains under debate. Here, Xu et al. report a cold thermal-gradient recorded in an eclogite xenolith in Paleoproterozoic carbonatite from orogen, and propose that modern-style subduction has operated since at least the Paleoproterozoic.

    • Cheng Xu
    • , Jindřich Kynický
    •  & Yingwei Fei

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The subducting plates can either penetrate straight into the lower mantle or flatten in the mantle transition zone, yet slab dynamics in the past remains unclear. Here, using subduction models, the authors predict that a hotter early Earth was probably more favourable to lower mantle slab penetration.

    • Roberto Agrusta
    • , Jeroen van Hunen
    •  & Saskia Goes

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Volatile contents in melt inclusions can be used to unravel magma migration and degassing. Here, the authors use olivine chronometry and melt inclusion data from the 2008 Llaima eruption and find that magma intrusion occurred 4 years before the eruption and reached a depth of 3–4 km, 6 months before the eruption.

    • Dawn C. S. Ruth
    • , Fidel Costa
    •  & Eliza S. Calder

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The late Ediacaran to early Cambrian interval witnessed extraordinary radiations of metazoan life, in which the role of physical environment remains debated. Here, Wang et al. show that increased nutrient nitrogen availability may have exerted an important control on both macroevolution and ocean oxygenation.

    • Dan Wang
    • , Hong-Fei Ling
    •  & Graham A. Shields

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Imaging the internal structure of faults remains challenging using conventional seismometers. Here, the authors use fibre-optic cables used for telecommunications to obtain strain data and identify faults and volcanic dykes in Iceland and suggest that fibre-optic cables could be used for hazard assessment.

    • Philippe Jousset
    • , Thomas Reinsch
    •  & Charlotte M. Krawczyk

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The West Antarctic Ice Sheet sits atop an extensional rift system with volcano-like features, yet we do not know if any of these volcanoes are active, because identifying subglacial volcanism remains a challenge. Here, the authors find evidence in helium isotopes that a large volcanic heat source is emanating from beneath the fast-melting Pine Island Ice Glacier.

    • Brice Loose
    • , Alberto C. Naveira Garabato
    •  & Karen J. Heywood

  • Review Article
    | Open Access

    Understudied in the Antarctic system are the subsurface interfaces between ice-sheet, ocean and geological substrate. Here, the authors review our understanding of these components and propose new avenues of holistic dynamic modeling to achieve a unified understanding of past, present and future polar climate.

    • Florence Colleoni
    • , Laura De Santis
    •  & Martin J. Siegert

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Friction plays a key role in fault slip between tectonic plates. Here, the authors demonstrate through friction experiments on calcite in brines that pressure solution at high stresses and slow sliding velocities leads to a prominent decrease in friction and therefore is a weakening mechanism in fault strength.

    • Yijue Diao
    •  & Rosa M. Espinosa-Marzal

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Submarine glacial landforms are used to reconstruct the Holocene retreat dynamics and stability of Petermann Glacier in northwest Greenland. Here, a large grounding-zone wedge at the mouth of Petermann fjord indicates a period of glacier stability, with final retreat likely driven by marine ice cliff instability.

    • Martin Jakobsson
    • , Kelly A. Hogan
    •  & Christian Stranne

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The timing of origin of the mixed layer, the zone of fully homogenized sediment resulting from bioturbation in modern oceans, is controversial, with estimates ranging from Cambrian to Silurian. Here, the authors show that a well-developed mixed layer was established in shallow marine settings by the early Cambrian.

    • Romain C. Gougeon
    • , M. Gabriela Mángano
    •  & Brittany A. Laing

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Fluid-mediated mineral dissolution is a key mechanism for mineral reactions in the Earth. Here, the authors show that element transport during mineral dissolution and reprecipitation reactions can be mediated by an amorphous phase, which can contain significant amounts of metals.

    • Matthias Konrad-Schmolke
    • , Ralf Halama
    •  & Franziska D. H. Wilke

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Although trace compounds are known to inhibit crystal growth, the mechanisms by which they do so are unclear. Here, the authors use a microkinetic model to study the mechanisms of several inhibitors of calcite growth, finding that the processes are quite different for inorganic and organic inhibitors.

    • S. Dobberschütz
    • , M. R. Nielsen
    •  & M. P. Andersson

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Ore deposits and nuclear reactors are greatly affected by the solubility and speciation of uranium at elevated (>100 °C) temperature. Here, the authors identify a new uranium chloride species (UCl40), which is mobile under reducing conditions, thereby necessitating a re-evaluation of uranium mobility.

    • Alexander Timofeev
    • , Artaches A. Migdisov
    •  & Hongwu Xu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Uncertainty regarding the evolution of the oxygen isotopic composition of seawater casts doubt on past temperature reconstructions. Here, the authors present a new, precise δ18O value for the Neoproterozoic, and propose that ocean temperatures on the eve of the Sturtian glaciation were 15–30 °C warmer than present.

    • F. Hodel
    • , M. Macouin
    •  & P. Agrinier

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Shallow magmatic feeder systems in monogenetic volcanic fields may determine how a volcano erupts. Here, the authors use numerical modeling to show that explosive excavation and infilling of eruptive craters affects local stress states, with feedbacks controlling sites and depths of crater-forming explosions.

    • Nicolas Le Corvec
    • , James D. Muirhead
    •  & James D. L. White

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The origin of iron oxide-apatite deposits remains enigmatic and controversial. Here, the authors perform experiments on intermediate magmas and show that increasing aH2O and fO2 enlarges the two-liquid field thus allowing the Fe–Ca–P melt to separate easily from host silicic magma and produce iron oxide-apatite ores.

    • Tong Hou
    • , Bernard Charlier
    •  & Olivier Namur

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Columnar joints in lavas form during cooling, but the temperature this occurs at is unclear. Here, the authors perform thermo-mechanical experiments on basaltic rocks to examine the temperature of columnar joints in lavas and find that failure occurs at 890–840 °C, which is below the solidus temperature of 980 °C.

    • Anthony Lamur
    • , Yan Lavallée
    •  & Fabian B. Wadsworth

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Accumulation of interseismic strain may now be constrained by satellite observations. Here, the authors show that strain accumulation rates on the North Anatolian Fault are constant for the interseismic period indicating that lower-crustal viscosities from postseismic studies are not representative.

    • Ekbal Hussain
    • , Tim J. Wright
    •  & Andrew Hooper

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Bridgmanite is the most abundant mineral in the lower mantle and therefore is crucial to interpreting geophysical observations and models. Here, the authors show that ferric-iron-only bridgmanite Fe3+ undergoes a spin transition at 43–53 GPa at 300 K and therefore has implications for mantle structure and dynamics.

    • Jiachao Liu
    • , Susannah M. Dorfman
    •  & E. Ercan Alp

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Seismic discontinuities near 410 and 660 km depth have often been used to map lateral variations in mantle temperature. Here, the authors apply array analysis to SS reflections off these discontinuities under Hawaii and find evidence of lateral variations in mantle composition at 660 km, but not at 410 km.

    • Chunquan Yu
    • , Elizabeth A. Day
    •  & Robert D. van der Hilst

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Earthquakes generated from the Nankai Trough have caused much devastation over the years. Here, the authors present a b-value map for the Nankai Trough zone, where the Eastern part of the trough has lower b-values than the West, which may help to explain why the Eastern part tends to rupture first.

    • K. Z. Nanjo
    •  & A. Yoshida

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