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Compared to Earth, the Moon is depleted in volatile species like water, sodium and potassium. Simulations suggest that much of the Moon formed from hot, volatile-poor melt in a disk of debris after initially amassing cooler, volatile-rich melt.
Closure of the Earth’s energy budget relies on strong aerosol cooling since 1998, if the same feedbacks apply for anthropogenic and natural variability. An analysis of climate model simulations suggests that these feedbacks are instead distinct.
The Moon may have accreted from a disk of debris after a giant impact. Simulations suggest that part of the Moon derives from volatile-poor melt in the hot inner disk, with most of the volatile elements condensing later and accreting to Earth.
The last deglaciation was interrupted by the Antarctic Cold Reversal. Proxy records and climate modelling suggest that a redistribution of oceanic and atmospheric heat caused changes in temperature and hydrology across the Southern Hemisphere.
Lakes are a large source of CO2. An analysis of chemical and physical data from 5,118 boreal lakes reveals that a majority emit CO2 originating primarily from terrestrial sources rather than CO2 produced within the lakes.
Plate tectonics is the surface expression of mantle convection. Seismic observations at the Cascadia subduction zone show that coupling between tectonic plate motion and mantle flow may depend on the size of the plate.
Shallow mantle flow could be induced by the motions of overriding tectonic plates or by deeper mantle convection. Analysis of mantle flow patterns in the Pacific Northwest shows that flow aligns with the motions of the largest oceanic plates.
Oxygen minimum zones exert important controls over ocean biogeochemistry. Lagrangian modelling demonstrates that the mean positions of mesoscale eddies delimit the boundaries of the Peruvian oxygen minimum zone.
The restrictions and protocols surrounding the collection and storage of field samples in the Earth sciences are not always complied with. Offences must not be taken lightly.
Despite legislation to protect natural sites, rock outcrops are being damaged in the name of science. Scientists, funders and publishers must push forward a stronger code of ethics.
Microbes live under glaciers that have persisted for millions of years, without a clear energy supply. Analyses of crushed rocks suggest that interactions of glaciers with the rocks beneath can produce enough H2 to support methanogenic bacteria.
ENSO-driven rainfall patterns are set to change as the climate warms. A moisture budget decomposition of simulations from 18 climate models reveals the mechanisms driving the shift in rainfall variability from western to central Pacific.
Microbe-mediated reactions remove nitrogen from river water as it flows through sediments. Simulations of the Mississippi River network suggest that denitrification due to flow through small-scale river bedforms exceeds that along channel banks.
In the United States, hurricanes have been causing more and more economic damage. A reanalysis of the disaster database using a statistical method that accounts for improvements in resilience opens the possibility that climate change has played a role.
The observed increases in hurricane losses are often thought to result solely from societal change. A regression-based analysis of US economic losses reveals an upward trend between 1900 and 2005 that is not explained by increasing vulnerability.
The width of the tropical belt affects the subtropical dry zones and has expanded since 1980. Analyses of observations and climate–chemistry model simulations suggest that the northern tropical edge retracted between 1945 and 1980.