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Geodynamics refers to the processes by which mantle convection shapes and reshapes the Earth and other rocky planets. Its study includes plate tectonics, volcanism, the chemistry of lava and volcanic rocks, gravity and geomagnetic anomalies as well as seismic investigations into the structure of the mantle.
In a part of the Apennines, where the Earth’s crust is thin and heat flow is high, production of CO2 from deep below the mountains dominates over near-surface weathering processes that consume this greenhouse gas. Ultimately, the magnitude of deep CO2 release tips the balance towards a landscape that is a net carbon emitter.
The geological histories of Archaean regions indicate that stabilization of the Earth’s continents and the formation of cratons was driven by continental emergence and subaerial weathering.
Hydrothermal flow pathways and extent of alteration within serpentinized peridotite in Mid-Atlantic Ridge oceanic core complexes are modulated by mafic intrusions, according to full waveform inversion of seismic data and local earthquake tomography.
The accumulation of partial melt at two distinct depth ranges in the asthenosphere is widespread, including in areas of mantle upflow, according to a study of Y/Yb compositions of oceanic and continental basalts.
Cassini tracking data yield a lower Love number for Titan than previous analysis. This result is compatible with a low-density internal ocean that might consist of a mix of water and ammonia.
Strike-slip motion along the tiger stripe fracture zones of Enceladus may act to modulate quasi-periodic jet activity, according to finite-element simulations of diurnal tidal deformation on the moon’s icy shell.
In a part of the Apennines, where the Earth’s crust is thin and heat flow is high, production of CO2 from deep below the mountains dominates over near-surface weathering processes that consume this greenhouse gas. Ultimately, the magnitude of deep CO2 release tips the balance towards a landscape that is a net carbon emitter.
Nature Geoscience spoke with Samantha Hansen, a geophysicist at the University of Alabama and Sebastian Rost, a global seismologist at the University of Leeds about the ultralow velocity zones in the lowermost mantle.
Advances in seismological observational and modelling techniques are needed to constrain complex lowermost mantle structures and understand their influence on the global dynamics and evolution of Earth’s interior.
The Moon’s primordial solidification is believed to have produced a layer of dense ilmenite cumulates beneath the crust. Remnants of this layer have now been detected under the lunar nearside.
Through the detection of postcursors of shear waves diffracted at the core–mantle boundary, a zone of ultralow seismic velocities has been identified at the base of the mantle beneath the Himalayas. The presence of this zone is probably linked to a subducted slab remnant that is driving mantle flow in the region.