Geology articles within Nature Communications

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  • Article
    | Open Access

    Hydrous and alkali rich magmas rise through the lithosphere and may host gold-rich ore deposits – a poorly understood process. Here, the authors present new chalcophile element data across a metallogenic section of the lithosphere and suggest a continuous or staged ascent of magmatic-hydrothermal settings from mantle to upper crust.

    • David A. Holwell
    • , Marco Fiorentini
    •  & Marek Locmelis

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The tectonic evolution of the Laxmi basin, in the northwest Indian Ocean, remains controversial. Here, the authors present new geochemical and seismic data which indicate the Laxmi basin formed by a subduction initiation event during the break-up of Gondwana.

    • Dhananjai K. Pandey
    • , Anju Pandey
    •  & Scott A. Whattam

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The origin of giant Kiruna-type iron ores has been debated for nearly 100 years. This study employs extensive stable isotope data from Kiruna-type ores worldwide and magmatic and hydrothermal reference materials to show that iconic Kiruna-type ores originate primarily from ortho-magmatic processes.

    • Valentin R. Troll
    • , Franz A. Weis
    •  & Katarina P. Nilsson

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Continuous continental rift zones evolve from enigmatic interactions between individual propagating rift segments. Here, the authors document progressive focusing of tectonic and magmatic activity caused by interactions between the Kenyan and Ethiopian rift segments of the East African Rift.

    • Giacomo Corti
    • , Raffaello Cioni
    •  & Anne Glerum

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Phyllosilicate minerals are critical components of seismogenic fault, shear and subduction zones. Here, the authors provide a new deformation mechanism for phyllosilicates, based on newly discovered crystallographic defects in biotite (ripplocations), affecting our understanding of fault zone processes.

    • Joe Aslin
    • , Elisabetta Mariani
    •  & Michel W. Barsoum

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Tectonic faults weaken during slip in order to accelerate and produce earthquakes. Here the authors show a mechanism for weakening faults through the transformation of quartz to amorphous nanoparticulate wear powders that lubricate friction experiments, and transform back to quartz under geologic conditions.

    • Christie D. Rowe
    • , Kelsey Lamothe
    •  & Stefano Aretusini

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The solubility of sulfur in basaltic melt has important implications for the formation of magmatic ore deposits. Here, the authors show that magma ascent and sulfur-degassing influence the degree to which basaltic magmas are enriched in economically-important chalcophile and siderophile elements.

    • C. D. J. Reekie
    • , F. E. Jenner
    •  & H. M. Williams

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The role of thermochemical oxidation of methane (TOM) by high-valence metal oxides as a potential methane sink remains poorly understood. Here, the authors present evidence of TOM induced by Mn(Fe) oxides in a sedimentary basin, which yields calcite with extremely negative δ13C values (−70 to −22.5‰, VPDB).

    • Wen-Xuan Hu
    • , Xun Kang
    •  & Hai-Guang Wu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Lamprophyres represent hydrous alkaline mantle melts that are a unique source of information about the composition of continental lithosphere. Here the authors use isotopic compositions of lamprophyres to map a hidden terrain boundary and an unknown fragment of Armorica in the mantle lithosphere of southwest Britain.

    • Arjan H. Dijkstra
    •  & Callum Hatch

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Great megathrust earthquakes arise from the sudden release of strain accumulated during centuries of interseismic plate convergence. Here, the authors reconstruct interseismic strain accumulation since the 1960 Chile earthquake, finding a transient evolution at decadal scale with implications for estimating the probability of future events.

    • Daniel Melnick
    • , Shaoyang Li
    •  & Zhiguo Deng

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The onset of modern-style plate tectonics remains under debate. Here, Xu et al. report a cold thermal-gradient recorded in an eclogite xenolith in Paleoproterozoic carbonatite from orogen, and propose that modern-style subduction has operated since at least the Paleoproterozoic.

    • Cheng Xu
    • , Jindřich Kynický
    •  & Yingwei Fei

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The late Ediacaran to early Cambrian interval witnessed extraordinary radiations of metazoan life, in which the role of physical environment remains debated. Here, Wang et al. show that increased nutrient nitrogen availability may have exerted an important control on both macroevolution and ocean oxygenation.

    • Dan Wang
    • , Hong-Fei Ling
    •  & Graham A. Shields

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The timing of origin of the mixed layer, the zone of fully homogenized sediment resulting from bioturbation in modern oceans, is controversial, with estimates ranging from Cambrian to Silurian. Here, the authors show that a well-developed mixed layer was established in shallow marine settings by the early Cambrian.

    • Romain C. Gougeon
    • , M. Gabriela Mángano
    •  & Brittany A. Laing

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Ore deposits and nuclear reactors are greatly affected by the solubility and speciation of uranium at elevated (>100 °C) temperature. Here, the authors identify a new uranium chloride species (UCl40), which is mobile under reducing conditions, thereby necessitating a re-evaluation of uranium mobility.

    • Alexander Timofeev
    • , Artaches A. Migdisov
    •  & Hongwu Xu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    There is a strong correlation between submarine slope failures and the occurrence of gas hydrates. Here, the authors use a combination of seismic data and numerical modelling to show that overpressure at the gas hydrate stability zone leads to potential destabilization of the slope and submarine landslides.

    • Judith Elger
    • , Christian Berndt
    •  & Wolfram H. Geissler

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The concentration of Ni and Cr of the continental crust cannot be explained by formation models involving differentiated magmatic rocks. Here, the authors show that hydrothermal alteration and chemical weathering of ultramafic rock compensates for the low Ni and Cr concentrations of island arc-type magmatic rocks.

    • Andreas Beinlich
    • , Håkon Austrheim
    •  & Andrew Putnis

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The supercontinent Rodinia has been hypothesised to have formed in a different manner from other supercontinents. Here, the authors report geochemical and mineralogical evidence for prevalence of non-arc magmatism and enhanced erosion of volcanic arcs and orogens during Rodinian assembly.

    • Chao Liu
    • , Andrew H. Knoll
    •  & Robert M. Hazen

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The mechanisms behind deformation of multiphase solids are elusive. Here, the authors use X-rays and simulations to show that the same mechanisms causing rocks to fold occur at the micrometer scale in dual-metal lamellas of Ag/Cu and Al/Cu under high-pressure torsion, leading to vortices formation.

    • Mohsen Pouryazdan
    • , Boris J. P. Kaus
    •  & Horst Hahn

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The lithospheric controls on giant gold deposits remain unclear. Here, the authors show evidence for native gold in the mantle from the Deseado Massif in Patagonia demonstrating that refertilisation of the lithospheric mantle is key in forming metallogenic provinces.

    • Santiago Tassara
    • , José M. González-Jiménez
    •  & Alexandre Corgne

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Lithium is increasingly being utilized for modern technology in the form of lithium-ion batteries. Here, using in situ measurements of quartz-hosted melt inclusions, the authors demonstrate that preserved lake sediments within rhyolitic calderas have the potential to host large lithium-rich clay deposits.

    • Thomas R. Benson
    • , Matthew A. Coble
    •  & Gail A. Mahood

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Although the mass end-Permian extinction is linked to large igneous provinces, its trigger remains unclear. Here, the authors propose that the abrupt change from flood lavas to sills resulted in the heating of sediments and led to the release of large-scale greenhouse gases to drive the end-Permian extinction.

    • S. D. Burgess
    • , J. D. Muirhead
    •  & S. A. Bowring

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Water plays a key role in many geological processes, including weakening crystals in the crust and mantle. Here, using amphibole distribution and olivine dislocation slip-systems, the authors show that ductile flow also has a dynamic control on water-rich fluid circulation in mantle shear zones.

    • Jacques Précigout
    • , Cécile Prigent
    •  & Anthony Pochon

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The cause of the end-Triassic extinction remains controversial. Here, the authors present U-Pb age data showing that magmatic activity occurred 100 kyr before the earliest known eruptions, which links to changes in climate and biotic records indicating the importance of understanding the intrusive record.

    • J.H.F.L. Davies
    • , A. Marzoli
    •  & U. Schaltegger

  • Article
    | Open Access

    It has been previously assumed that deep river channels could not have developed in the Proterozoic due to lack of vegetation. Here, the authors present remote sensing and outcrop data to show that large scale and deeply channelled river networks did exist in the Proterozoic despite the absence of vegetation.

    • Alessandro Ielpi
    • , Robert H. Rainbird
    •  & Massimiliano Ghinassi

  • Article
    | Open Access

    How flat slabs at subduction zones are created remains unclear. Here, the authors show that the Nazca slab has retreated at ∼2 cm per year since 50 Ma but no rollback has occurred in the last ∼12 Myr in the flat slab, implying that an overpressured sub-slab mantle can impede rollback and maintain a flat slab.

    • Gerben Schepers
    • , Douwe J. J. van Hinsbergen
    •  & Nadine McQuarrie

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Some of the earliest life on Earth flourished in terrestrial hot springs. Here, the authors present evidence for ca. 3.5 Ga hot spring deposits from the Dresser Formation, Pilbara Craton, Australia, that host some of the earliest known life in the form of stromatolites and other microbial biosignatures.

    • Tara Djokic
    • , Martin J. Van Kranendonk
    •  & Colin R. Ward

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Heavy rare earth elements (HREE) are an important global resource for many industries. Here, Xuet al. have discovered new REE minerals, which represent oxidized REE-rich fluids that metasomatized granites resulting in an enrichment of HREE, therefore contributing to our knowledge of global REE resources.

    • Cheng Xu
    • , Jindřich Kynický
    •  & Wenlei Song

  • Article
    | Open Access

    There is growing evidence for the presence of continental fragments within the young oceanic basins, but this is still based on limited geological data. Here, the authors use zircon isotope geochronology to demonstrate the presence of Archaean continental crust beneath the young hotspot volcanoes of Mauritius.

    • Lewis D. Ashwal
    • , Michael Wiedenbeck
    •  & Trond H. Torsvik

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Microstructural features of deformed rocks are used to reveal deformation stresses and temperatures. Here, the authors conduct experiments showing that misleading microstructures form during fluid-mediated mineral reactions under static conditions, and propose new criteria for microstructure identification.

    • Liene Spruzeniece
    • , Sandra Piazolo
    •  & Helen E. Maynard-Casely

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The high amount of L-type chondrites discovered in Ordovician sediments has previously been linked with the Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event. But here, Lindskoget al. present new zircon ages that date the chondrite dispersion to 468.0±0.3 Ma, showing that the two events may be unrelated.

    • A. Lindskog
    • , M. M. Costa
    •  & M. E. Eriksson

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The Perm anomaly is found in the lower mantle beneath Eurasia, but how this structure formed has remained unclear. Here, the authors show that the anomaly has been mobile since it formed in isolation within a closed subduction network and propose that the anomaly is linked to the Emeishan volcanics.

    • N. Flament
    • , S. Williams
    •  & D. J. Bower

  • Article
    | Open Access

    As shale and tight gas basins are increasingly used to extract natural gas, understanding how gas migrates is important. Wood and Sanei find that secondary migration in a tight-gas basin leads to up-dip transmission of enriched methane into surficial strata which may leak into groundwater and the atmosphere.

    • James M. Wood
    •  & Hamed Sanei

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Understanding when brittle rock faulting took place can help unravel the history of deformation in the Earth’s crust. The authors here develop a new approach to date faults using a combination of K-Ar isotopic dating of illite and structural analysis to provide high resolution dates of the faults.

    • G. Viola
    • , T. Scheiber
    •  & J. Knies

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Precambrian rocks host a deep hydrosphere, but where dissolved sulfate, crucial for microbial life, comes from is unclear. At 2.4 km depth in the Canadian shield, Li et al. find that oxidation of sulfides in the host rocks creates sulfate thus providing a long-term mechanism for the deep biosphere sulfate.

    • L. Li
    • , B. A. Wing
    •  & B. Sherwood Lollar

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Weakly coupled subduction zones may generate earthquakes that lead to tsunamis, but their structure and seismicity are poorly constrained with the Ryukyu subduction zone as one such example. Here, Arai et al. present seismological evidence from Ryukyu showing megathrust faults and low frequency earthquakes.

    • Ryuta Arai
    • , Tsutomu Takahashi
    •  & Yoshiyuki Kaneda

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The Ilopango caldera, El Salvador has had a number of large explosive eruptions, but its magmatic plumbing system is unclear. Here, Saxby et al. image a strike-slip faulted low-density structure under the caldera and interpret it as a gas-charged magmatic reservoir beneath a shallow hydrothermal system.

    • J. Saxby
    • , J. Gottsmann
    •  & E. Gutiérrez

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Tidal channel networks mediate the exchange of water, nutrients, sediment and biota between an estuary and marshes. Here, the authors show that the presence of vegetation on the marsh platform contributes to the formation of an efficient channel network.

    • William S. Kearney
    •  & Sergio Fagherazzi

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The Toba Caldera is the site of the largest Pleistocene eruption at 74,000 years ago, yet the magmatic plumbing system remains poorly understood. Here, Koulakov et al. present a new seismic tomography model highlighting a complex multilevel plumbing magmatic system under Toba.

    • Ivan Koulakov
    • , Ekaterina Kasatkina
    •  & Sergey Smirnov

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Oceanic anoxia is invoked for driving the Permo-Triassic Mass Extinction, but the timing, distribution and chemical state are poorly understood. Here, the authors show that fluctuations of anoxic, non-sulfidic (ferruginous) conditions were important for the delayed biotic recovery in the Neo-Tethys.

    • M. O. Clarkson
    • , R. A. Wood
    •  & L. Krystyn

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Diamonds provide a window into deep Earth processes and can be used to understand the deep carbon cycle. Here, Jacob et al. show that diamond precipitation can be triggered by the oxidation of pyrrhotite to magnetite at the base of a cratonic lithosphere, providing insight into diamond formation.

    • Dorrit E. Jacob
    • , Sandra Piazolo
    •  & Patrick Trimby

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The role of the low velocity-high conductivity zones (LV–HCZs) in developing the Tibetan Plateau has remained controversial. Here, Wang et al.present new geochemical and petrological data that show the LV–HCZs are sources of partial melt thus giving insight into the development of the Tibetan Plateau.

    • Qiang Wang
    • , Chris J. Hawkesworth
    •  & Yan-Hui Dong

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Meteorites falling on Earth today are believed to represent 100–150 parent bodies. Within 470 Myr ago sediments at a limestone quarry in Sweden, Schmitz et al. have found and identified a new type of meteorite based on chromium and oxygen isotopes sourced from a previously unknown parental body.

    • B. Schmitz
    • , Q. -Z. Yin
    •  & G. R. Huss

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The influence of surface ponding on the interior of ice shelves is currently unknown. Here, the authors combine surface and borehole geophysics on the Larsen C Ice Shelf, Antarctica, with remote sensing and modelling and show how pond refreezing increases ice shelf density and temperature.

    • Bryn Hubbard
    • , Adrian Luckman
    •  & Ian Rutt

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