Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain
the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in
Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles
and JavaScript.
Subduction zone earthquakes can be followed by aseismic slip. Analysis of fault slip in northern Peru reveals transient aseismic slip that lasted for seven months and released more than 1,000% of the energy expelled by the quake that preceded it.
Gullies on Mars have been linked to possible flowing water, but are most active when seasonal CO2 ice is defrosting. Numerical modelling suggests that CO2 ice sublimation can induce debris flows consistent with observations of martian gullies.
Sea level rose rapidly during Meltwater Pulse 1A, about 14,500 years ago. A reassessment of sea-level rise and isostatic adjustment suggests sea level rose roughly 8 to 15 m in total, with 0 to 10 m derived from the Antarctic ice sheets.
El Niño events tend to suppress Atlantic hurricane activity. Simulations with high-resolution climate models show that the efficiency of this suppression mechanism varies with the flavour of the El Niño event.
An absence in the ancient geological record of blueschist metamorphic rocks has been taken as evidence against early subduction. Thermodynamic calculations now suggest that blueschist rocks could not have formed on a younger, hotter Earth.
Aquatic ecosystems are important sources of the greenhouse gas nitrous oxide. Measurements of nitrous oxide concentrations from 321 rivers, lakes and ponds in Canada reveal that some boreal aquatic systems can act as net nitrous oxide sinks.
Plate tectonic motions can influence biological systems. Numerical modelling of the topographic evolution of New Zealand, combined with fish phylogenetic analyses suggest mountain growth directly influenced biological diversification.
The frequency and amplitude of the El Niño/Southern Oscillation varied during the Holocene. A comparison of proxy records and model simulations suggests that any link between orbital forcing and this variability is either complex or non-existent.
During the last deglaciation, the Indian summer monsoon failed during periods of cooling in the North Atlantic. Sediment records suggest that the concomitant cooling of the surface of the Arabian Sea contributed to the monsoon weakening.
The physical state of atmospheric particulate matter affects its growth and reactivity, which can affect climate. Measurements of particle rebound reveal that particulate matter over the Amazon forest is usually liquid during wet and dry seasons.
Jupiter’s banded cloud layer contains enigmatic jets and vortices. Numerical simulations show that both features originate at depth in giant planet atmospheres, with vortices developing in areas of upwelling to shallow layers.
In active mountain belts, erosion is driven by bedrock landsliding. River water chemistry in New Zealand’s Southern Alps suggests that stochastic mass wasting processes also enhance chemical weathering in such environments.
The sediment load of China’s Yellow River has been declining. Analysis of 60 years of runoff and sediment load data attributes this decline to river engineering, with an increasing role of post-1990s land use changes on the Loess Plateau.
Extreme daily precipitation is thought to increase with warming at a rate of 6.5% per K. High-resolution simulations for the southern UK show this scaling for present conditions, but above 22 °C this scaling fails owing to changes in dynamics.
Microbial reduction of arsenic-bearing iron oxides releases arsenic into groundwater in Asia. Laboratory and field studies in the Mekong Delta reveal that arsenic release is limited to near-surface sediments of permanently saturated wetlands.
Subducting oceanic plates are often considered as cold, rigid slabs. Analysis of seismic anisotropy in the subducted Nazca Plate beneath Peru suggests that the plate has deformed internally during subduction.
Flood basalt eruptions have been linked to extinction events. Numerical simulations suggest that the environmental effects of sulphur emissions from these volcanoes would be limited unless the eruptions were frequent and sustained.
Slip during subduction zone earthquakes is often assumed to occur on a single fault. Analysis of a 2011 Chilean earthquake shows that the event was composed of two quakes, with megathrust rupture triggering slip in the overriding plate.
Subduction carries water into the Earth where it can influence seismicity. Analysis of the structure of the Alaskan subduction zone suggests fluid delivery is influenced by faults in the oceanic plate that formed at the mid-ocean ridge.
Global mean temperatures during the Pliocene epoch were warmer than at present, with a shallow meridional temperature gradient. Numerical simulations suggest that since the Pliocene, the meridional and zonal temperature gradients have varied in tandem.