Solid Earth sciences articles within Nature Communications

Featured

• Article | 13 December 2011

  Migrating deformation in the Central Andes from enhanced orographic rainfall

  Active shortening in the Central Andes shifted from the western to the eastern margin between 10-7 Myr ago, but the mechanism of formation is still unclear. Here, using critical wedge theory and local-scale fault friction calculations, this shift is proposed to have been controlled by changes in erosion patterns.

  • Kevin Norton
  •  & Fritz Schlunegger

• Article | 29 November 2011

  Sauropod dinosaur osteoderms from the Late Cretaceous of Madagascar

  Osteoderms are bones embedded within the dermis and are common in reptiles. Here, two osteoderms from the sauropod dinosaur Rapetosaurus indicate that the largest osteoderm known has an internal cavity equivalent to half its total volume and may have functioned as a mineral reserve in harsh environmental conditions.

  • Kristina Curry Rogers
  • , Michael D'Emic
  •  & Amanda Cagan

• Article | 11 October 2011

  Osmium evidence for synchronicity between a rise in atmospheric oxygen and Palaeoproterozoic deglaciation

  The Early Palaeoproterozoic saw glaciations and a rise in atmospheric oxygen, but the link between these two changes is poorly understood. Here, osmium isotope records from sedimentary rocks indicate synchronicity between an episode of increasing oxygen and a glacial transition.

  • Yasuhito Sekine
  • , Katsuhiko Suzuki
  •  & Teruyuki Maruoka

• Article | 21 June 2011

  Long-term projections and acclimatization scenarios of temperature-related mortality in Europe

  The sensitivity of human populations to rising global temperatures is not yet fully understood. The authors describe the link between temperature and daily mortality in over 200 European regions and calculate projections of mortality from climate models under greenhouse gas scenario simulations.

  • Joan Ballester
  • , Jean-Marie Robine
  •  & Xavier Rodó

• Article | 14 June 2011

  Helium penetrates into silica glass and reduces its compressibility

  SiO₂ glass and helium are important in various fields of science and engineering. Sato et al. show SiO₂glass to be less compressible in helium under high pressure, which may be relevant for the interpretation of high-pressure experiments and in the design of new materials.

  • Tomoko Sato
  • , Nobumasa Funamori
  •  & Takehiko Yagi

• Article | 03 May 2011

  Melt migration in basalt columns driven by crystallization-induced pressure gradients

  The internal textures of columnar-jointed lava flows and intrusions are poorly understood. Mattssonet al. propose a melt-migration model for Icelandic basalt driven by crystallization and volume decrease inside cooling columns, which explains the macroscopic features observed in columnar-jointed basalts.

  • Hannes B. Mattsson
  • , Luca Caricchi
  •  & Ann M. Hirt

• Article
  26 April 2011 | Open Access

  South China Sea hydrological changes and Pacific Walker Circulation variations over the last millennium

  Tropical Pacific hydrology affects the global climate through the strength of the Pacific Walker Circulation. Yanet al. reconstruct variations in the Pacific Walker Circulation in the South China Sea over the last millennium and find that less precipitation fell during warmer and more rainfall during cool periods.

  • Hong Yan
  • , Liguang Sun
  •  & Wenhan Cheng

• Article
  19 April 2011 | Open Access

  Mapping the evolving strain field during continental breakup from crustal anisotropy in the Afar Depression

  The spatial and temporal scales over which continental breakup occurs by mechanical deformation and magma intrusion remain controversial. Keiret al. quantify anisotropy across the Afar Triple Junction using S-wave splitting from earthquakes to evaluate the strain in a region of continental breakup.

  • Derek Keir
  • , M. Belachew
  •  & J.V. Rowland

• Article | 08 March 2011

  Prevailing oxic environments in the Pacific Ocean during the mid-Cretaceous Oceanic Anoxic Event 2

  The second oceanic anoxic event occurred 94 million years ago and constituted a very large perturbation of the Earth's carbon cycle. Here, the authors study carbon isotopes and degrees of pyritization and demonstrate that, unlike other oceans, the Pacific remained oxygenated for most of this period.

  • Reishi Takashima
  • , Hiroshi Nishi
  •  & Keiichi Hayashi

• Article
  22 February 2011 | Open Access

  Multiple S-isotopic evidence for episodic shoaling of anoxic water during Late Permian mass extinction

  A final catastrophe killed 90% of marine species at the end of the Permian period, but significant biodiversity loss preceded this event. In this study, sulphur isotope evidence suggests that incursion of anoxic water into shallow regions may have contributed to biodiversity loss.

  • Yanan Shen
  • , James Farquhar
  •  & Boswell A. Wing

• Article | 15 February 2011

  New silica clathrate minerals that are isostructural with natural gas hydrates

  Clathrates are minerals with cage-like structural voids that can be filled by guest species; three types are plausible but only one has been observed in nature. Mommaet al. have discovered the remaining two types in Japanese marine sediments, and determined their structural similarity to natural gas hydrates.

  • Koichi Momma
  • , Takuji Ikeda
  •  & Yasuhiro Kudoh

• Article | 30 November 2010

  Historical land use change has lowered terrestrial silica mobilization

  Continental export of silicon to the coast is linked to ocean carbon sinks, but terrestrial silicon fluxes have not been quantified. Here, human deforestation and cultivation of the landscape are shown to be the most important factors in silicon mobilization in temperate European watersheds.

  • Eric Struyf
  • , Adriaan Smis
  •  & Patrick Meire

• Article
  23 November 2010 | Open Access

  Discovery of a black smoker vent field and vent fauna at the Arctic Mid-Ocean Ridge

  The Arctic Mid-Ocean Ridge spreads extremely slowly and hydrothermal vent fields have not been reported in its vicinity. Pedersenet al. describe a black smoker vent field with large hydrothermal deposits and novel fauna distinct from those found in similar environments in the Atlantic.

  • Rolf B. Pedersen
  • , Hans Tore Rapp
  •  & Steffen L. Jorgensen

• Article | 05 October 2010

  Evidence for infragravity wave-tide resonance in deep oceans

  Ocean tides and infragravity waves—the Earths 'hum'—have very different periods and wavelengths. Sugioka and colleagues report resonance between these two phenomena using arrays of broadband ocean-bottom seismometers and show that some tidal energy is transferred to the deep oceans through this coupling.

  • Hiroko Sugioka
  • , Yoshio Fukao
  •  & Toshihiko Kanazawa

• Article | 10 August 2010

  Crustaceans from bitumen clast in Carboniferous glacial diamictite extend fossil record of copepods

  Copepod crustaceans are extremely abundant but fossilize poorly given their fragility; the earliest known fossils are from the Cretaceous period. Selden and colleagues report copepod fossils dating from the Carboniferous in a bitumen clast in Oman, extending their fossil record by 188 million years.

  • Paul A. Selden
  • , Rony Huys
  •  & Paul N. Taylor

• Article | 29 June 2010

  A new Argentinean nesting site showing neosauropod dinosaur reproduction in a Cretaceous hydrothermal environment

  Dinosaur nesting sites have been found in many different places, but the factors that influenced the choice of location are unclear. Here, a sauropod nesting site is described in a geothermal setting in the Sanagasta Valley, suggesting that the dinosaurs used the warm environment to favour the incubation process.

  • Gerald Grellet-Tinner
  •  & Lucas E. Fiorelli