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Water is considered the primary agent that erodes and shapes bedrock canyons. Analyses of canyon morphology in the central Andes suggest that abrasion by wind can amplify canyon incision and reshape canyons on Earth—and possibly on Mars.
Arsenic in aquifers is transformed by biological and abiotic reactions. Field measurements and laboratory experiments suggest that the microbial methylation of arsenic contributes to subsurface arsenic cycling.
Droughts can cause dry-season productivity to decline in tropical forests. This decline occurs when precipitation is below 2,000 mm yr−1, resulting in insufficient subsurface water storage to maintain constant production through the dry season.
Differentiated planetesimals may have delivered iron-rich material to Earth in giant impacts at the end of accretion. Impact experiments suggest that the planetesimals’ iron cores vaporized, aiding dispersal and mixing into Earth’s mantle.
Some biological particles act as ice nuclei in the atmosphere, affecting clouds and precipitation. Cloud-chamber experiments demonstrate that cellulose particles can act as efficient ice-nucleating particles in supercooled clouds.
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 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.
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.
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.
The 2011 Tohoku-oki earthquake released stress within a subduction zone. Analysis of seismic data shows that stresses returned to pre-quake levels within a few years, implying that large quakes could occur more often than previously thought.
The Witwatersrand gold deposit is the largest in the world. Thermodynamic calculations show that such rich accumulations of gold could be linked to abundant volcanism, primitive life and the oxygen-free atmosphere of the Archaean.
Boreal forest wildfires in North America are more intense and destructive than in Eurasia. Differences in species-level adaptations to fire are primary drivers of these differences in fire regimes.
Holocene temperature trends in the Arctic are unclear. An isotope record from ice wedges in Siberia suggests that winters have warmed since the mid-Holocene, whereas summer temperatures have cooled.