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The structure of the lithosphere and its impact on mantle flow significantly influence the impact of Earth’s interior dynamics on surface topography, suggest statistical analyses of Earth’s topography.
Glaciers in the Andes have lost about 23 Gt of mass per year between 2000 and 2018, with the fastest loss in Patagonia, according to time series of digital elevation models that are based on ASTER stereo images.
Some lake basins in the polar regions of Titan may be craters from nitrogen vapour explosions due to past warming, according to analysis of their morphology in comparison to terrestrial explosion craters from magma–water interaction.
The northern temperate carbon sink is estimated to increase by 0.64 PgC each year for each increase in atmospheric CO2 concentrations by 100 ppm, suggests an analysis of data from field experiments at 7 sites constraints.
Evaporite dissolution coupled with pyrite burial can lead to biogeochemical feedbacks that explain the enigmatic Neoproterozoic carbon isotope record, according to numerical model simulations.
Vigorous mixing between the protolunar disk and Earth followed by processes in the cooling disk may explain the enrichment in light isotopes of tin on the Moon relative to Earth, as found by analysis of lunar rocks and geochemical calculations.
Archaean granitic rocks formed by melting of silica-enriched subducted basaltic crust through interaction with seawater, according to heavy silicon isotopes measured in Archaean samples.
Granitic continental crust in the Archaean formed from a basaltic source that was enriched in silica due to interaction with the early oceans before melting, according to silicon isotope analyses on rocks from the Kaapvaal craton.
Inclusion of sponge spicules and radiolarians increases the global ocean biological sink of silicon by 28%, with 95% of that increase attributed to sponges, according to examination of sediments from 17 marine cores.
The European mega-heatwaves in 2003 and 2010 were intensified by torrents of hot air that were transported in from desiccated regions upwind, suggests an analysis of observations and reanalysis data together with a Lagrangian heat-tracking framework.
Volatile exsolution and crustal viscosity dictate that the optimum pressure for the growth of an eruptible magma reservoir is 2 kbar in all tectonic settings and crustal compositions, according to thermomechanical modelling.
The abundance of iron-loving elements in Moon rocks cannot indicate the amount of late accretion onto the Moon, according to experiments and thermodynamic calculations constraining the behaviour of these elements under lunar mantle conditions.
Material that accreted to Earth after its core formed largely comprised carbonaceous, volatile-rich meteorites, according to analysis of the selenium isotopic composition of terrestrial mantle rocks.
Forest stand-replacing disturbances significantly affect the biomass stocks in about a half of forested area globally, according to analyses of global forest loss from satellite data, together with a dynamic vegetation model.
Anthropogenic changes in Antarctic shelf-break winds from the 1920s onwards have contributed to ice loss in the Amundsen Sea, along with natural variability, suggests an analysis of observations and model simulations.
Macroalgae can be transported across the open ocean, and substantial amounts can reach the seafloor at 4,000 m depth, according to analyses of metagenome data from global expeditions. Macroalgae are a potentially important oceanic carbon sink globally.
Dissolved organic matter is persistent in soil owing to continuous consumption and transformation rather than owing to its recalcitrant molecular properties, according to analyses of molecular changes of dissolved organic matter as it passes through soil.
Phosphorus limitation can significantly reduce the response of the Amazon forest to CO2 fertilization, according to ecosystem-model ensemble simulations of a free-air CO2 enrichment experiment.