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Metals often accumulate in the crust beneath volcanoes. Laboratory experiments and observations reveal important roles for magmatic vapours and brines in transporting and concentrating the metals into deposits worth targeting for extraction.
The status of sea floors is an important part of healthy marine ecosystems and intact coastlines. We need laws and a sea-floor management regime to make the exploitation of marine resources sustainable.
The processes that create economic-grade accumulations of metals above magma chambers are unclear. High-temperature laboratory experiments show that rapid reactions between magmatic gases and Earth’s crust can trigger efficient metal deposition.
The hydrology of the North American west looked very different at the Last Glacial Maximum to today. A model–data comparison suggests the observed precipitation patterns are best explained if the storm track was squeezed and steered by high-pressure systems.
The Last Glacial Maximum hydroclimate over western North America differed from the modern climate. A proxy-model comparison suggests that the glacial storm track was squeezed and steered by atmospheric high-pressure systems.
The relative uncertainty of anthropogenic climate forcing has decreased in the past decade. A statistical model suggests that by 2030 this uncertainty will be halved, as CO2 increasingly dominates over other human-made climate influences.
Copper ore deposits accumulate at relatively shallow depths in the crust, but it is unclear how the metal is transported. Laboratory experiments show that metals may hitch a ride on magma bubbles and float towards shallower depths.
Earth’s core exhibits similar elastic properties to rubber. Experiments show that a high-pressure phase of iron carbide modifies iron’s elastic properties under inner-core conditions, suggesting that carbon is the light element in the core.
Beneath the fresh and cold surface water in the Arctic Ocean resides more saline and warmer water of Atlantic origin. Pan-Arctic measurements of turbulent mixing suggest that tidal mixing is bringing up substantial amounts of heat in some areas.
Short-lived halogens are produced naturally and anthropogenically, and are not governed by the Montreal Protocol. Like halocarbons, short-lived halogens destroy lower-stratospheric ozone, resulting in a net cooling effect since pre-industrial times.
Atlantic water brings heat to the subsurface Arctic Ocean. Pan-Arctic microstructure measurements of energy dissipation suggest that vertical mixing is substantial over the continental slopes, tidally induced, and insensitive to sea-ice cover.
Faint M dwarf stars are the focus of searches for habitable planets. Numerical models suggest that changes in stellar luminosity lead to planets that are either too dry or too wet to be habitable in M dwarf systems.
Instrumental records have hinted that aerosol emissions may be shifting rainfall over Central America southwards. A 450-year-long precipitation reconstruction indicates that this shift began shortly after the Industrial Revolution.
The position of the intertropical convergence zone may be influenced by aerosols. A 450-year-long precipitation record from Belize confirms a southward shift associated with increasing anthropogenic aerosol emissions in the Northern Hemisphere.
The speed of seismic waves passing through the Earth’s inner core varies with direction. Analysis of earthquake seismic data suggests that this directional dependence differs between innermost and outer inner core.
Most of the world’s copper comes from porphyry ore deposits. Laboratory experiments suggest that these deposits form in a two-stage process over thousands of years, from the interaction between sulphur-rich gases and metal-rich brines.