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Different ocean basins warm at different rates in response to climate change. A coupled carbon–climate model reveals that high carbon emission rates will lead to greater sea-level rise in the Atlantic than the Pacific on centennial timescales.
Porphyry ore deposits are increasingly hard to discover. Geochemical analysis of minerals formed in porphyry systems worldwide shows that the most fertile deposits are associated with excess Al and water-rich magma injections.
Magma reservoirs typically accumulate over hundreds to thousands of years. Yet, geochemical analyses of volcanic rocks from Campi Flegrei suggest activity there was triggered by injections of volatile-rich magma only days before the eruption.
Variability in solar UV radiation is uncertain, but it affects Earth’s climate. Simulations of the ozone response to various data sets of spectral solar irradiance show that high-amplitude solar variability is inconsistent with ozone observations.
Groundwater flow redistributes heat in the Earth’s crust. Numerical simulations of groundwater flow show net cooling of groundwater basins, as well as cooling of the underlying lithosphere in areas where groundwater flows over large distances.
Natural hydrocarbon seeps account for up to 47% of the oil released into the oceans. In situ and remote measurements of chlorophyll concentrations suggest that natural hydrocarbons enhance productivity in surface waters in the Gulf of Mexico.
Anthropogenic emissions of reactive nitrogen have had severe environmental impacts. An analysis of reactive nitrogen emissions from the production, consumption and transport of commodities attributes roughly a quarter to international trade.
Streamflow is a mixture of precipitation of various ages. Oxygen isotope data suggests that a third of global river discharge is sourced from rainfall within the past few months, which accounts for less than 0.1% of global groundwater.
Transfer of CO2 from Earth’s interior to the atmosphere happens largely by volcanic degassing. Measurements of CO2 emissions from faults in the East African Rift system imply that tectonic degassing is also important for deep carbon release.
Bacteria have been shown to be involved in the reduction of HgII to elemental mercury. Laboratory experiments with HgII and different carbon sources reveal that purple bacteria can use HgII as an electron acceptor, promoting bacterial growth.
The Cryogenian Snowball Earth glaciations were followed by the deposition of massive cap carbonates. Geochemical modelling suggests that shallow-ridge volcanism supplied much of the alkalinity and cations that fuelled this deposition.
Nutrient input from icebergs can fertilize productivity in the ocean. Ten years of satellite measurements reveal that giant icebergs could be responsible for up to 20% of carbon export to depth in the Southern Ocean.
How Himalayan topography is built is unclear. Analysis of surface displacement during the 2015 Gorkha earthquake suggests that large earthquakes may lower the high Himalayan mountains, and topography may grow during the interseismic phase.
The time at which plate tectonics were initiated on Earth is unclear. Geochemical analysis of diamonds suggests that recycled oxidized material could have been introduced to the mantle via subduction zones more than 3 billion years ago.
The El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) affects weather patterns worldwide. Numerical experiments with an Earth system model suggest that cloud feedbacks act to amplify ENSO variability by a factor of two or more.
A period of ocean anoxia about 120 million years ago coincided with high temperatures. A reconstruction of CO2 concentrations shows that volcanic outgassing from the Ontong Java Plateau caused CO2 levels to double during the anoxic event.