Solid Earth sciences articles within Nature Communications

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  • Article
    | Open Access

    The motions of subducted slabs are expected to drive mantle flow around slab edges, however, evidence of deep mantle flow has so far remained elusive. Here, the authors present a Full Waveform Inversion 3-D anisotropy model which allows them to infer deep subduction-induced mantle flows underneath the Mid-Americas and the Caribbean.

    • Hejun Zhu
    • , Robert J. Stern
    •  & Jidong Yang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Retreating subduction zones are enabled by the development of faults at the edges of the slab, but the physical mechanisms controlling fault propagation remain debated. Here, the authors find that oceanic crust recycling is controlled by weakening of fractures forming at the edges of slabs.

    • Jessica Munch
    • , Taras Gerya
    •  & Kosuke Ueda

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Applying first-principles molecular dynamic simulations and thermodynamic modelling, the authors suggest a vertical oxygen fugacity gradient in magma oceans of Earth, Mars, and the Moon. Consequently, the study proposes larger planets like Earth to have stronger oxidized upper mantles than smaller bodies such as Mars or the Moon.

    • Jie Deng
    • , Zhixue Du
    •  & Kanani K. M. Lee

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The authors here present a stress map of the North American crust that gives a new view of dynamics of the continent. The results can be applied to probabilistic seismic hazard analysis and resource development as well as to provide constraints for theoretical models of crustal dynamics.

    • Jens-Erik Lundstern
    •  & Mark D. Zoback

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Indian continental subduction can explain crustal deformation, magmatic activity and uplift of the Tibetan Plateau following collision, however, the nature of the Indian subducting slab beneath Myanmar and the related tectonic regime remain unclear. Here, the authors present direct structural evidence of present-day Indian continental subduction beneath Asia.

    • Tianyu Zheng
    • , Yumei He
    •  & Myo Thant

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The magmatic progression produced during the initiation of the Izu-Bonin-Marianas subduction zone took place rapidly over 1 million years, but it has been unclear why. Here, using numerical models, the authors show that subduction initiation was dominated by vertical forces, internal to the system itself, progressing to self-sustained subduction.

    • B. Maunder
    • , J. Prytulak
    •  & M. Reagan

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Topography at active forearc margins is controlled by numerous competing tectonic and erosional processes acting at different timescales, yet separating their respective contribution remains a challenge. Here, the authors evidence Myr-scale, uplift-then-subsidence cycles controlled by transient accretion at the base of the forearc domain.

    • Armel Menant
    • , Samuel Angiboust
    •  & Raphael Grandin

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Tidewater glaciers in fjords can advance/retreat independent of climate due to stabilization by sediments at their termini. We show that an Alaskan paleo-ice stream behaved similarly on an open shelf, suggesting that increased sediment flux may delay catastrophic retreat of outlet glaciers in a warming world.

    • Ellen A. Cowan
    • , Sarah D. Zellers
    •  & Stewart J. Fallon

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Many major mass extinction events have been associated with large volcanic eruption events, with the argument that large volumes of volcanic degassing could trigger past global climate changes. Here, the authors find that during the end-Triassic extinction event volcanic pulses emitted large amounts of CO2 comparable to projected anthropogenic emissions for the 21st century in the future 2 °C warming scenario.

    • Manfredo Capriolo
    • , Andrea Marzoli
    •  & Csaba Szabó

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The authors here combine a range of geophysical data, numerical modelling and borehole data to present a high resolution map of an offshore freshened groundwater system in the Canterbury Bight, New Zealand. The study shows the extensions of the offshore freshened groundwater system to be controlled by high permeability shelf sediments, buried paleochannels and onshore rivers.

    • Aaron Micallef
    • , Mark Person
    •  & Ashwani Kumar Tiwari

  • Article
    | Open Access

    This study investigates deep intracontinental earthquakes. Based on field data from exhumed lower crustal pseudotachylytes and mylonites from Lofoten, northern Norway, the authors describe a novel model of earthquake nucleation in the lower crust as a transient consequence of ongoing localised aseismic creep.

    • L. R. Campbell
    • , L. Menegon
    •  & G. Pennacchioni

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Giant rockslides creep slowly for centuries and then can fail catastrophically, posing major threats to society. Here, the authors use observational and experimental evidence to quantitatively capture the full spectrum of giant rockslide behaviour until collapse, that is modulated by hydro-mechanical response to short-term fluid pressure perturbations.

    • Federico Agliardi
    • , Marco M. Scuderi
    •  & Cristiano Collettini

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Magmatic and tectonic activity at mid-oceanic ridges can give detailed insights into high-temperature hydrothermal circulation of fluids. The authors here present geochemical and geophysical datasets that suggest a hydrothermal system penetrating the upper lithospheric mantle at an ultra-slow spreading mid-oceanic ridge.

    • Chunhui Tao
    • , W. E. Seyfried Jr
    •  & Wei Li

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Complex macroscopic organisms are first found in the Ediacaran period, but their ecology during this time is not well understood. Here, Bobrovskiy et al. analyse biomarkers from Ediacaran sediments hosting macrofossils and find evidence for abundant algal food sources available for these organisms.

    • Ilya Bobrovskiy
    • , Janet M. Hope
    •  & Jochen J. Brocks

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The dominant emission sources of anthropogenic radionuclides come from either atmospheric nuclear weapons tests or the nuclear industry (i.e., reprocessing plants or reactor accidents). Here, the authors identify a new environmental isotope tracer (\(^{233}\)U/\(^{236}\)U) which can help distinguish emissions from nuclear weapons tests, and can also provide constraints on past weapon designs and fuel sources, for which many details remain classified or lost.

    • K. Hain
    • , P. Steier
    •  & A. Sakaguchi

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The composition and tectonic affiliation of Earth's earliest crust remains disputed. Here, the authors find that Archean Jack Hills zircons crystallized from melts with compositions similar to andesite formed in modern subduction settings, which they suggest is consistent with an early onset of modern-style plate tectonics on Earth.

    • Simon Turner
    • , Simon Wilde
    •  & Yi-Jen Lai

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Using data recorded by a new seafloor seismic network, the authors reveal the detailed 3D structure of the source zone of the great 2011 Tohoku-oki earthquake, which sheds new light on the mechanism of the great earthquake and tsunami.

    • Yuanyuan Hua
    • , Dapeng Zhao
    •  & Yixian Xu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Cooling of the iron core in the early Earth may have been too slow to allow for the generation of a magnetic field. Based on quantum mechanical and geodynamical modelling approaches, the authors find that the electrical conductivity of silicate liquid at high pressure and temperature conditions could have been sufficient to generate a silicate dynamo and a magnetic field in the early Earth.

    • Lars Stixrude
    • , Roberto Scipioni
    •  & Michael P. Desjarlais

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Glaciers have profoundly shaped Earth’s surface, but glacial erosion models lack a strong empirical basis. Cook et al. have compiled a dataset that illustrates how the speed at which glaciers move controls the rate at which they erode, and that climate is crucial in modulating glacier sliding speed and erosion rates.

    • Simon J. Cook
    • , Darrel A. Swift
    •  & Richard I. Waller

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Following the impact of the protoplanet Theia, planet Earth likely transformed into a magma ocean. New high temperature and pressure experiments by Xie et al. suggest that a layer enriched in bridgmanite formed during the magma ocean phase of Earth–remnants of this ancient layer today may be responsible for the viscosity peak between 660 and 1500 km in present solid mantle.

    • Longjian Xie
    • , Akira Yoneda
    •  & Denis Andrault

  • Article
    | Open Access

    In this study, the authors investigate thermal alteration of organic biomarkers to detect paleo earthquakes in the Japan Trench. The study shows that large earthquakes like the 2011 Tohoku-Oki earthquake can slip through different types of sediment rather than being restricted to the weakest layers.

    • Hannah S. Rabinowitz
    • , Heather M. Savage
    •  & James D. Kirkpatrick

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Sulfur is one of the key volatiles in Earth’s chemical cycles; however, sulfur speciation, isotopic composition, and flux during the subduction cycle remain unclear. Here, the authors provide direct constraints on subduction zone sulfur recycling from high-pressure rocks and explore implications for arc magmatism.

    • Ji-Lei Li
    • , Esther M. Schwarzenbach
    •  & Xin-Shui Wang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The ~70 km-diameter Yarrabubba impact structure in Western Australia has previously been regarded as among Earth’s oldest meteorite craters, but has hitherto lacked absolute age constraints. Here, the authors determine a precise impact age of 2229 ± 5 Ma, which extends the terrestrial cratering record back in time by > 200 million years and establishes Yarrabubba as the oldest recognised meteorite impact structure on Earth.

    • Timmons M. Erickson
    • , Christopher L. Kirkland
    •  & Thomas M. Davison

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Decrease of friction during seismic slip is linked to temperature increase and weak phases production inside the fault core. Here the authors propose a mathematical framework which explains the frictional behaviour of all materials reported in literature and precisely captures material weakening during fault slip.

    • Hadrien Rattez
    •  & Manolis Veveakis

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Porphyry copper and gold deposits are the dominant natural suppliers of these metals to our society, yet the large variations in metal endowments of porphyry Cu–Au deposits remain obscure. Here, the author shows that Cu-rich porphyries require large amounts of magma and water to be formed, while Au-rich porphyries are the result of a better efficiency of Au precipitation.

    • Massimo Chiaradia

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The seismic Gutenberg discontinuity has long been associated with the lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary, yet the physical explanation of what is causing the discontinuity remains debated. Here, the authors report geochemical evidence, including Mg isotopes, and suggest that melting of recycled crust is responsible for the Gutenberg discontinuity.

    • Jia Liu
    • , Naoto Hirano
    •  & Teng Ding

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Seismology is a powerful tool to investigate Earth’s interior. Here, the authors combine numerical approaches with experimental results from previous studies to show a depth dependent behaviour of seismic waves in subducted oceanic crust in Earth’s mantle. The work challenges the currently accepted model of depth-independent seismic wave behaviour in oceanic crust.

    • Wenzhong Wang
    • , Yinhan Xu
    •  & Zhongqing Wu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Olivine crystals with prominent intracrystalline distortions have previously been used to quantify deformational processes within the mantle. Here, the authors show that similar techniques can be applied to deformed volcanic olivine crystals, providing quantitative constraints on the geometry of melt-rich mush piles within magmatic plumbing systems.

    • Penny E. Wieser
    • , Marie Edmonds
    •  & John Wheeler

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Cratons represent the ancient cores of continental plates and are generally thought to have been stable since the Archean. Here however, the authors combine seismic analysis with kimberlite data to infer complete destruction of cratonic lithosphere in some places of the African continent.

    • Nicolas Luca Celli
    • , Sergei Lebedev
    •  & Carmen Gaina

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Wind changes the surface of the Earth, but the surface characteristics of the planet also impact the winds above it. Here, the authors propose a feedback process in which wind erosion in the western Gobi Desert alters the thermal properties of the surface, which in turn increases near-surface winds.

    • Jordan T. Abell
    • , Alex Pullen
    •  & Gisela Winckler

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The increasingly prevalent view of magmatic systems as mush-dominated challenges the common assumption that melt inclusions record the pre-eruptive storage and processing of the melts they were erupted with. Here, the authors show that melt inclusions from Kīlauea Volcano, Hawai'i exhibit extreme compositional diversity, consistent with the accumulation of inclusion-bearing crystals in magmatic mush zones for >170 years before their eventual eruption in unrelated carrier melts.

    • Penny E. Wieser
    • , Marie Edmonds
    •  & Barbara E. Kunz

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Recent recession of the Larsen Ice Shelf C has revealed that microbial alteration of illite can occur within marine sediments, a process previously thought to only occur abiotically during low-grade metamorphism. Here, the authors show that such microbial alteration of illite could provide a potential source of Fe release to Southern Ocean waters during Holocene glacial cycles.

    • Jaewoo Jung
    • , Kyu-Cheul Yoo
    •  & Jinwook Kim

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The Nd isotope composition of seawater has been used to reconstruct past changes in the various contributions of different water masses to the deep ocean, with the isotope signatures of endmember water masses generally assumed to have been stable during the Quaternary. Here, the authors show that deep water produced in the North Atlantic had a significantly more radiogenic Nd signature during the Last Glacial Maximum compared to today.

    • Ning Zhao
    • , Delia W. Oppo
    •  & Lloyd D. Keigwin

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Distributed acoustic sensing (DAS) technology in geophysics is commonly known for applications such as active source seismic profiling in boreholes. Here, the authors convert the fiber optics cable into an ocean bottom seismic recording array with thousands of single component channels.

    • Ethan F. Williams
    • , María R. Fernández-Ruiz
    •  & Hugo F. Martins

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The relative role of the Deccan Traps volcanic activity versus the role of the Chicxulub impact event in terms of potential contributions to the Cretaceous-Paleogene (K-Pg) mass extinction has been subject to longstanding debate. Here, the authors observe a global signal of abruptly increased ocean temperatures and elevated [Hg] in the same biogenic carbonate specimens, prior to the impact event but aligning with the onset of Deccan volcanism.

    • Kyle W. Meyer
    • , Sierra V. Petersen
    •  & Ian Z. Winkelstern

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The D\({}^{{\prime\prime} }\) layer in the Earth’s lower mantle involves a seismic discontinuity which is often assigned to a mineral phase transition to post-perovskite, however, as this phase transition occurs over broad region the assignment of seismic boundaries remains unclear. Here, the authors find that due to the kinetics of the bridgmanite to post-perovskite transformation, thick transition layers can be detected by seismic reflections, unlike previously thought.

    • Christopher Langrand
    • , Denis Andrault
    •  & Sébastien Merkel

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Some of Earth’s earliest continental crust has been previously inferred to have formed from partial melting of hydrated mafic crust at pressures above 1.5 GPa (more than 50 km deep), pressures typically not reached in post-Archean continental crust. Here, the authors show that such high pressure signatures can result from melting of mantle sources rather than melting of crust, and they suggest there is a lack of evidence that Earth’s earliest crust melted at depths significantly below 40 km.

    • Robert H. Smithies
    • , Yongjun Lu
    •  & Marc Poujol

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The authors here perform experiments to investigate the dihedral angle of olivine-H2O and olivine-H2O-NaCl systems. The observed effect of NaCl to decrease dihedral angles allows fluids to percolate through forearc mantle wedge and to accumulate in the overlying crust, accounting for the high electrical conductivity anomalies in forearc regions.

    • Yongsheng Huang
    • , Takayuki Nakatani
    •  & Catherine McCammon

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum constitutes one of the largest climate perturbations in Earth’s history, but its exact causes are not well known. New estimates of greenhouse gas fluxes from the North Atlantic Igneous Province at high temporal resolution show that they could have initiated this event.

    • Stephen M. Jones
    • , Murray Hoggett
    •  & Tom Dunkley Jones

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Low seismic velocity anomalies reveal a complex scenario of plume upwellings from a deep thermo-chemical anomaly (superplume) in the mantle below the East African Rift, however, geophysical observations alone are insufficient to identify the extent of plume influence on the magmatism along the rift. Here, the authors use Sr-Nd-Pb isotope data to show that superplume mantle underlies the entire rift system, from the Red Sea to the Indian Ocean south of Mozambique.

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

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The long-term stability of Precambrian continental lithosphere depends on the rheology of the lithospheric mantle as well as the coupling between crust and mantle lithosphere. Here, the authors study crustal seismic anisotropy to reveal that the crust and mantle lithosphere of southern Africa have been coupled since cratonisation, over 2 billion years ago.

    • H. Thybo
    • , M. Youssof
    •  & I. M. Artemieva

  • Article
    | Open Access

    A reference function for describing the orientation of clay platelets in clay-rich materials is still lacking, but is necessary for applications such as prediction of water and solute transfer and designs of innovative materials. Here, the authors determine a reference orientation function of clay platelets, and validate their function for both engineered and natural clay-rich media.

    • Thomas Dabat
    • , Fabien Hubert
    •  & Eric Ferrage

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The links between plate tectonics and deep mantle structure remain unclear. Here, the authors demonstrate that transition elements (Ni, Cr, and Fe/Mn) in basaltic rocks can be used as a tool to trace plume-related magmatism through Earth history, and their results indicate the presence of a direct relationship between the intensity of plume magmatism and the supercontinent cycle.

    • Hamed Gamal EL Dien
    • , Luc S. Doucet
    •  & Ross Mitchell

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