Geology articles within Nature Communications

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  • Article
    | Open Access

    Extremely fine-grained fault rocks are intrinsically weak and behave as fluids even at low temperatures and fast deformation rates. Local production of fine-grained material during fault movement can lead to an earthquake instability.

    • Hongyu Sun
    •  & Matej Pec

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Experiments show that when magma heats black shale wall-rock, fluids form and mobilize S and Cu, which can then concentrate and form base metal deposits. The fluids also attach to sulphide droplets and cause them to float in the host silicate melt.

    • Ville J. Virtanen
    • , Jussi S. Heinonen
    •  & Karina Moslova

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The Middle Ordovician icehouse has been suggested to be sparked by extra-terrestrial dust associated with an asteroid break-up. Here, the authors use an astronomically calibrated timescale to decouple millennia-scale climate and biodiversity change from the meteorite shower 468.4 million years ago.

    • Jan Audun Rasmussen
    • , Nicolas Thibault
    •  & Christian Mac Ørum Rasmussen

  • Article
    | Open Access

    How far back in time plate tectonics operated on Earth is debated because of a paucity of geological evidence for horizontal plate motions. Here the authors show that plates moved laterally by >3500 kilometres 2.7–2.5 billion years ago, demonstrating plate tectonics in the Archean Eon, when life developed on Earth.

    • Yating Zhong
    • , Timothy Kusky
    •  & Hao Deng

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Global climate changes triggered by massive output of greenhouse gases led to mass extinctions in Earth’s past. Here, the authors show that widespread release of methane at the time of the end-Triassic mass extinction was caused by interaction of a Large Igneous Province with sedimentary host-rocks.

    • Manfredo Capriolo
    • , Andrea Marzoli
    •  & Csaba Szabó

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The Paleocene–Eocene boundary coincided with runaway global warming possibly analogous to future climate change, but the sources of greenhouse gasses have remained unresolved. Here, the authors reveal volcanism triggered initial warming, and subsequent carbon was released after crossing a tipping point.

    • Sev Kender
    • , Kara Bogus
    •  & Melanie J. Leng

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Episodic magmatism of the early Andes is the result of a complex interplay between mantle, crust, slab and sediment contributions that can be traced using zircon chemistry. An external (tectonic) model is argued for the episodic plutonism in this extensional continental arc.

    • José Joaquín Jara
    • , Fernando Barra
    •  & Diego Morata

  • Article
    | Open Access

    This paper reveals that potassic alteration can be triggered by Na-rich fluids, indicating that pervasive sequential sodic and potassic alterations associated with mineralization in some of the world’s largest ore deposits may not necessarily reflect externally-driven changes in fluid alkali contents.

    • Gan Duan
    • , Rahul Ram
    •  & Joël Brugger

  • Article
    | Open Access

    This paper placed the identified Mariana type ophiolite within a global tectonic re-organization at ca. 530-520 Ma. Similar ophiolites, together with other geological and chemical proxies, newly constrained the timing of establishment of modern plate tectonics, along with its links to surficial changes that characterize the contemporary Earth.

    • Jinlong Yao
    • , Peter A. Cawood
    •  & Peng Wang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    “Earth degassing is a critical carbon source, but its contribution to Cenozoic atmospheric CO2 variations is not well known. Here, the authors analyse CO2 fluxes on the Tibetan Plateau and suggest that the India-Asia collision was the primary driver of changes in atmospheric CO2 over the past 65 Ma.”

    • Zhengfu Guo
    • , Marjorie Wilson
    •  & Jiaqi Liu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Constraining the thermal state of the lithosphere is crucial to understanding geodynamic regime in early Earth. Here the authors reconstruct ~2.9–2.5 Ga thermal structure of continental lithosphere of the North China Craton using TTG and propose a systematic Archean geodynamic evolution process.

    • Guozheng Sun
    • , Shuwen Liu
    •  & Fangyang Hu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Why Earth’s crust only started becoming widely preserved in the Eoarchaean, 500 Ma after planetary accretion, is poorly understood. Here, the authors document a shift to juvenile magmatic sources in the early Eoarchaean, linking crustal preservation to the formation of stabilising melt-depleted mantle.

    • Jacob A. Mulder
    • , Oliver Nebel
    •  & Timothy J. Ivanic

  • Article
    | Open Access

    A case study of migmatites indicates that the juvenile arc crust underwent a rapid self-recycling process from arc magmatism to erosion and weathering at the surface, then to burial and remelting. Intra-arc thrust fault systems might efficiently promote endogenous recycling.

    • Jun-Yong Li
    • , Ming Tang
    •  & Lin-Sen Li

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Laboratory experiments reproducing earthquake slip in non cohesive fault rocks under fluid pressurised conditions are challenging. Thanks to these experiments, the authors show that earthquake slip occurring in tsunamigenic subduction zone faults is controlled by dilatancy and pressurisation processes.

    • S. Aretusini
    • , F. Meneghini
    •  & G. Di Toro

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Here, based on earthquake data, vertical gravity gradient data and high-resolution bathymetry, the authors show that the Red Sea is not in transition from rifting to spreading as previously proposed. They instead suggest it to be a mature ocean basin in which continuous seafloor spreading began quasi-instantaneously along its entire length around 13 Ma ago.

    • Nico Augustin
    • , Froukje M. van der Zwan
    •  & Bryndís Brandsdóttir

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Tectonomagmatic conditions in the Precambrian were hypothesized to be unfavorable for porphyry Cu deposit formation. Here, the authors show that metallogenic processes typify Phanerozoic porphyry Cu deposits operated by ~1.88 Ga, reflecting modification of mantle lithosphere by oxidized slab-derived fluids at that time.

    • Xuyang Meng
    • , Jackie M. Kleinsasser
    •  & Richard A. Stern

  • Article
    | Open Access

    It is widely hypothesised that primeval life utilized small organic molecules as sources of carbon and energy, however, the presence of such primordial ingredients in early Earth habitats has not yet been demonstrated. Here the authors report the existence of indigenous organic molecules and gases in primary fluid inclusions in c. 3.5- billion-year-old rocks from Western Australia.

    • Helge Mißbach
    • , Jan-Peter Duda
    •  & Volker Thiel

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The authors here present a multi-lake paleoseismological approach to evaluate the role of earthquakes in causing a spatio-temporal cluster of large, prehistoric rockslides between 3000 and 4200 years ago in the Eastern European Alps and for which the triggering mechanisms are still debated.

    • Patrick Oswald
    • , Michael Strasser
    •  & Jasper Moernaut

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The nature and evolution of Earth’s crust during the Hadean and Eoarchean is largely unknown due to the lack of preserved material from this period. Here, the authors document a period of crustal rejuvenation between 3.2 and 3.0 Ga, coincident with peak mantle potential temperatures that imply greater degrees of mantle melting and injection of hot mafic-ultramafic magmas into older Hadean-to-Eoarchean felsic crust at this time.

    • C. L. Kirkland
    • , M. I. H. Hartnady
    •  & J. A. Hollis

  • Comment
    | Open Access

    Scientists increasingly post images and photos on social media to share their research activities. However, posting images and photos could potentially exclude people with visual impairments. Here, we outline actions that should be taken to foster accessibility and inclusion in posting scientific images on social media.

    • Domenico Chiarella
    • , Justin Yarbrough
    •  & Christopher A.-L. Jackson

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Here, the authors combine bathymetry and sediment echosound data to present a submarine, volcanic map of the Tristan de la Cunha region. They find that the youngest volcanic expression of the Tristan de la Cunha mantle plume is currently located to the (south-) west of the island.

    • Wolfram H. Geissler
    • , Paul Wintersteller
    •  & Wilfried Jokat

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Global resources of heavy Rare Earth Elements (REE) are dominantly sourced from Chinese regolith-hosted ion-adsorption deposits, yet the adsorption mechanisms remain unclear. Here, the authors find that heavy REE are adsorbed as easily leachable 8-coordinated outer-sphere hydrated complexes, dominantly onto kaolinite, in clays from both China and Madagascar.

    • Anouk M. Borst
    • , Martin P. Smith
    •  & Kalotina Geraki

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Magmatic systems play a crucial role in enriching the crust with volatiles and elements that reside primarily within the Earth’s mantle. Here, the authors show that carbon, as a buoyant supercritical CO2 fluid, could be a covert agent that may promote the physical transport of sulfides across the mantle-crust transition.

    • Daryl E. Blanks
    • , David A. Holwell
    •  & Elena Ferrari

  • Article
    | Open Access

    In this study the authors show that monotonous basaltic volcanoes can host a range of melts in their sub-volcanic systems, extending to rhyolitic compositions. The study implies that volcanoes which have produced monotonous basaltic lavas on long timescales could transition to more explosive, silica-rich eruptions in the future.

    • Michael J. Stock
    • , Dennis Geist
    •  & John Maclennan

  • Perspective
    | Open Access

    Despite numerous advances in our understanding of subduction since the theory of plate tectonics was established, the mechanisms of subduction zone initiation remain highly controversial. Here, the authors present a transdisciplinary and expandable community database of subduction zone initiation events in the last 100 Ma, which establishes a clear direction for future research.

    • Fabio Crameri
    • , Valentina Magni
    •  & Marcel Thielmann

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Northeast Atlantic climate shifted into the Quaternary Ice Age around 2.6 Myr ago. Here, the authors use 3D seismic data from the northern North Sea to document detailed changes in continental-margin sedimentary architecture spanning the transition from a fluvially dominated environment to an icehouse world.

    • H. Løseth
    • , J. A. Dowdeswell
    •  & D. Ottesen

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The environmental changes at the Permian–Triassic boundary are thought to have been caused primarily by volcanic eruptions. Here the authors develop a model to show that the loss of ecosystems on land and consequent massive terrestrial biomass oxidation triggered large biogeochemical changes in the oceans at the time of the marine mass extinction.

    • Jacopo Dal Corso
    • , Benjamin J. W. Mills
    •  & Paul B. Wignall

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Magma storage zones are debated to either be crystal-dominated mush zones or large liquid-dominated magma chambers. Here, the authors discover fossilized solidification fronts of magnetitite in the Bushveld pluton, which indicate nucleation and crystal growth occurred at the magma chamber floor, precluding the existence of a thick crystal mush zone in this region.

    • Willem Kruger
    •  & Rais Latypov

  • Article
    | Open Access

    One of the largest continental microplates on Earth is situated in the center of the East African Rift System, and oddly, the Victoria microplate rotates counterclockwise with respect to the neighboring African tectonic plate. Here, the authors' modelling results suggest that Victoria microplate rotation is caused by edge-driven lithospheric processes related to the specific geometry of rheologically weak and strong regions.

    • Anne Glerum
    • , Sascha Brune
    •  & Manfred R. Strecker

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The early Earth’s atmosphere had very low oxygen levels for hundreds of millions of years, until the 2.4 Ga Great Oxidation Event, which remains poorly understood. Here, the authors show that reducing Archean volcanic gases could have prevented atmospheric O2 from accumulating, and therefore mantle oxidation was likely very important in setting the evolution of O2 and aerobic life.

    • Shintaro Kadoya
    • , David C. Catling
    •  & Ariel D. Anbar

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The Semail ophiolite provides evidence for geological processes that form oceanic crust, however, its deep structure remains debated. Here, the authors use geophysical imaging to determine that the ophiolite is bound by a thrust fault in the west, and a normal fault in the east, bounding a rapidly subsiding basin, implying the ophiolite may not be rooted in the Gulf of Oman crust.

    • M. Y. Ali
    • , A. B. Watts
    •  & T. Ambrose

  • Article
    | Open Access

    CH4 seepage mostly occurs in petroleum-bearing sedimentary basins, but the role of tectonics in degassing is mostly only known at a local scale. Here, the authors conduct a global scale analysis of seeps, faults, sedimentary basins, petroleum fields and heat flow, and find that geological CH4 seepage preferably develops in convergent basins, while gas seeps can occur along any brittle tectonic structure.

    • Giancarlo Ciotoli
    • , Monia Procesi
    •  & Guido Ventura

  • Article
    | Open Access

    This study investigates deep intracontinental earthquakes. Based on field data from exhumed lower crustal pseudotachylytes and mylonites from Lofoten, northern Norway, the authors describe a novel model of earthquake nucleation in the lower crust as a transient consequence of ongoing localised aseismic creep.

    • L. R. Campbell
    • , L. Menegon
    •  & G. Pennacchioni

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Magmatic and tectonic activity at mid-oceanic ridges can give detailed insights into high-temperature hydrothermal circulation of fluids. The authors here present geochemical and geophysical datasets that suggest a hydrothermal system penetrating the upper lithospheric mantle at an ultra-slow spreading mid-oceanic ridge.

    • Chunhui Tao
    • , W. E. Seyfried Jr
    •  & Wei Li

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Porphyry copper and gold deposits are the dominant natural suppliers of these metals to our society, yet the large variations in metal endowments of porphyry Cu–Au deposits remain obscure. Here, the author shows that Cu-rich porphyries require large amounts of magma and water to be formed, while Au-rich porphyries are the result of a better efficiency of Au precipitation.

    • Massimo Chiaradia

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The permeability of a dome exerts a control on the outgassing efficiency of the underlying magma. The authors investigate the role of hydrothermal alteration on this process in the laboratory and use these data to model whether the overpressures generated are capable of promoting explosive behaviour.

    • Michael J. Heap
    • , Valentin R. Troll
    •  & Thomas R. Walter

  • Article
    | Open Access

    This study seeks to tackle the question of why intermediate magmatic rock compositions are poorly represented on the Earth’s surface. The authors do so by tracking the evolution of the physical behaviour of immiscible Fe-rich liquids within a sample suite from the lava lake on the Kilauea Iki volcano, Hawaii.

    • Victoria C. Honour
    • , Marian B. Holness
    •  & Marlon M. Jean

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The India-Asia collision has formed the highest mountains on Earth and is associated with extensive intraplate deformation. Here, the authors present geodynamic experiments of continental deformation across Central, East, and Southeast Asia which suggest that the Pacfic and Sunda subduction zones played an active role during intraplate deformation.

    • W. P. Schellart
    • , Z. Chen
    •  & F. M. Rosas

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