Volume 13 Issue 5, May 2020

A revised age reconstruction suggests marine-based regions of the Eurasian Ice Sheet melted rapidly, contributing to a major sea-level rise some 14,600 years ago. Such a rapid collapse of massive ice hints at the vulnerability of Earth’s remaining ice sheets.

The morphology and geometry of the plate interface in a subduction zone is heterogeneous and influenced by lower-plate normal faulting, suggests an analysis of seismic data. These properties of subduction interfaces may influence how the largest earthquakes occur.

Migration of water from the slab to the surface during subduction is highlighted as a key process in the formation of continental crust.

Early magmatism on the Moon’s nearside may have been enhanced by a geochemical anomaly lowering the melting point of the mantle source region, according to high-temperature experiments and thermal numerical modelling.

Reduced phosphorus species delivered by meteorites can be oxidized in reactions with hydrogen sulfide under ultraviolet light to provide a ready supply of phosphate to support prebiotic chemistry, as demonstrated by experiments.

High-elevation rivers in permafrost of the East Qinghai–Tibet Plateau are hotspots of methane emissions, according to measurements of methane fluxes in the region.

Continued deoxygenation of the oceans will probably lead to enhanced demand for iron, as implied by the abundance of an iron-rich enzyme in the mesopelagic waters of the Pacific.

Marine-based sections of the Eurasian Ice Sheet collapsed rapidly during a warming event 14,600 years ago and contributed to the Meltwater Pulse 1A event, according to a recalibrated age model for sediments from the Norwegian Sea.

Geometric and rheological complexities may control the mechanical behaviour of megathrusts, according to an analysis of the heterogeneity in roughness and rock properties of the Middle America megathrust from 3D seismic reflection data.

Mineralization of platinum-group elements in mafic intrusions occurs due to repeated self-intrusion of magma, according to strontium isotope heterogeneities preserved in the Rum layered intrusion, Scotland.

Iron isotopic fractionation at the core–mantle boundary due to thermal diffusion may partly explain the iron isotope composition of the upper mantle, according to high-temperature experiments and numerical simulations.

Observation-based modelling suggests that recent acceleration of Earth’s north magnetic pole towards Siberia can be linked to elongation of a lobe of negative magnetic flux at the core–mantle boundary beneath Canada.