Pub Date : 2025-11-03DOI: 10.1038/s41561-025-01835-9
Analysis of satellite remote sensing and geophysical data reveals that following the loss of stabilizing fast ice, an Antarctic Peninsula glacier retreated at a record pace due to a fast calving and flotation process that occurred as it reached an ‘ice plain’, where the ice is lightly resting on bedrock.
{"title":"Antarctic glacier retreats at record rate due to rapid flotation and calving process","authors":"","doi":"10.1038/s41561-025-01835-9","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41561-025-01835-9","url":null,"abstract":"Analysis of satellite remote sensing and geophysical data reveals that following the loss of stabilizing fast ice, an Antarctic Peninsula glacier retreated at a record pace due to a fast calving and flotation process that occurred as it reached an ‘ice plain’, where the ice is lightly resting on bedrock.","PeriodicalId":19053,"journal":{"name":"Nature Geoscience","volume":"18 11","pages":"1093-1094"},"PeriodicalIF":16.1,"publicationDate":"2025-11-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145434353","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-10-30DOI: 10.1038/s41561-025-01833-x
Dong Chen, David P. Roy, Zhe Zhu, Tim R. McVicar, Justin Sheffield, Peter M. Atkinson, Amir AghaKouchak, Thomas Blaschke, Pasquale Borrelli, Wouter Dorigo, Rasmus Fensholt, Noel Gorelick, Luis Guanter, Klaus Hubacek, Matthew F. McCabe, Diego G. Miralles, Anja Rammig, Markus Reichstein, Eric Rignot, Brendan M. Rogers, Alexandra Tyukavina, Sander Veraverbeke, Pablo J. Zarco-Tejada, Etienne Berthier
Greater accessibility to China’s vast archive of satellite Earth observations could enhance scientific progress, disaster preparedness, and international cooperation.
更广泛地获取中国庞大的卫星地球观测档案，可以促进科学进步、备灾和国际合作。
{"title":"A call for integrated and cooperative global sharing of China’s Earth observation data","authors":"Dong Chen, David P. Roy, Zhe Zhu, Tim R. McVicar, Justin Sheffield, Peter M. Atkinson, Amir AghaKouchak, Thomas Blaschke, Pasquale Borrelli, Wouter Dorigo, Rasmus Fensholt, Noel Gorelick, Luis Guanter, Klaus Hubacek, Matthew F. McCabe, Diego G. Miralles, Anja Rammig, Markus Reichstein, Eric Rignot, Brendan M. Rogers, Alexandra Tyukavina, Sander Veraverbeke, Pablo J. Zarco-Tejada, Etienne Berthier","doi":"10.1038/s41561-025-01833-x","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41561-025-01833-x","url":null,"abstract":"Greater accessibility to China’s vast archive of satellite Earth observations could enhance scientific progress, disaster preparedness, and international cooperation.","PeriodicalId":19053,"journal":{"name":"Nature Geoscience","volume":"18 11","pages":"1071-1073"},"PeriodicalIF":16.1,"publicationDate":"2025-10-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145397198","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-10-27DOI: 10.1038/s41561-025-01823-z
Eva Bucciarelli, Pierrick Penven, Stéphane Pous, Alessandro Tagliabue
A phytoplankton bloom spanning 1 million km2 is consistently observed in the western Indian Subantarctic Zone. This oceanic region between the Subtropical and Subantarctic fronts in the Indian sector of the Southern Ocean contributes 20–40% of Southern Ocean carbon export to the deep ocean. However, aeolian inputs of iron, the key limiting nutrient for primary production, support only half of the phytoplanktonic iron demand of this bloom. Here we show that primary production in the western Indian Subantarctic Zone is sustained by long-range transport of iron via the Agulhas Current, one of the strongest ocean currents, which flows southwestward along the southern African coast. Float trajectories and high-resolution model diagnostics indicate that these waters, enriched with iron over the African margin, cross the Subtropical Front via the region’s intense mesoscale eddy variability. Removing the African sedimentary iron source in the model decreases surface iron concentrations in the western Indian Subantarctic Zone by 55%, reducing annual primary production and carbon export by 25% and 26%, respectively. Strengthening of the Agulhas Return Current over the past 130 kyr may therefore have increased iron supply and palaeoproductivity in the Indian Subantarctic Zone, potentially leading to enhanced atmospheric CO2 drawdown. Recurrent phytoplankton blooms in the western Indian Subantarctic Zone are largely supported by iron-rich water transported into the region by the Agulhas Current, according to an analysis of float data and regional ocean modelling.
{"title":"Western Indian subantarctic phytoplankton blooms fertilized by iron-enriched Agulhas water","authors":"Eva Bucciarelli, Pierrick Penven, Stéphane Pous, Alessandro Tagliabue","doi":"10.1038/s41561-025-01823-z","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41561-025-01823-z","url":null,"abstract":"A phytoplankton bloom spanning 1 million km2 is consistently observed in the western Indian Subantarctic Zone. This oceanic region between the Subtropical and Subantarctic fronts in the Indian sector of the Southern Ocean contributes 20–40% of Southern Ocean carbon export to the deep ocean. However, aeolian inputs of iron, the key limiting nutrient for primary production, support only half of the phytoplanktonic iron demand of this bloom. Here we show that primary production in the western Indian Subantarctic Zone is sustained by long-range transport of iron via the Agulhas Current, one of the strongest ocean currents, which flows southwestward along the southern African coast. Float trajectories and high-resolution model diagnostics indicate that these waters, enriched with iron over the African margin, cross the Subtropical Front via the region’s intense mesoscale eddy variability. Removing the African sedimentary iron source in the model decreases surface iron concentrations in the western Indian Subantarctic Zone by 55%, reducing annual primary production and carbon export by 25% and 26%, respectively. Strengthening of the Agulhas Return Current over the past 130 kyr may therefore have increased iron supply and palaeoproductivity in the Indian Subantarctic Zone, potentially leading to enhanced atmospheric CO2 drawdown. Recurrent phytoplankton blooms in the western Indian Subantarctic Zone are largely supported by iron-rich water transported into the region by the Agulhas Current, according to an analysis of float data and regional ocean modelling.","PeriodicalId":19053,"journal":{"name":"Nature Geoscience","volume":"18 11","pages":"1152-1158"},"PeriodicalIF":16.1,"publicationDate":"2025-10-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145382432","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-10-21DOI: 10.1038/s41561-025-01822-0
Gina E. Moseley, Gabriella Koltai, Jonathan L. Baker, Jian Wang, Heather Stoll, Anika Donner, Lena Friedrich, Christoph Spötl, M. Paul Smith, Denis Scholz, Hai Cheng, Adam Hartland, Clivia Hejny, R. Lawrence Edwards
The sensitivity of terrestrial Arctic climate during the Late Miocene remains poorly understood, despite this interval marking the transition towards a cooler, more variable global climate and the prelude to Northern Hemisphere glaciation. Here we present a Late Miocene terrestrial proxy record, developed through the analysis of speleothems, from eastern North Greenland (Kalaallit Nunaat). Growth periods indicate multiple episodes of permafrost absence between ~10 and 5 Ma, suggesting mean annual air temperatures ~14 °C higher than present coinciding with atmospheric CO2 concentrations above ~310 ppm and local sea surface temperature anomalies >2 °C higher than present. Such moderate thresholds for permafrost absence highlight the climate sensitivity of North Greenland. Spikes in siliciclastic-derived trace elements ~6.3 and ~5.6 Ma are interpreted as terrestrial indicators for Late Miocene ephemeral glaciers in North Greenland. Climate variability recorded during speleothem growth periods was predominantly forced by obliquity, although, in the earliest Late Miocene, obliquity-scale anti-phasing with Antarctica may have occurred. Regional sea-ice extent was at its greatest following ~5.6 Ma during phases of transient glacial–interglacial cycles. Our findings highlight the sensitivity of the Arctic climate system and permafrost to modest CO2 levels and provide insights into regional responses to orbital forcing. The Late Miocene terrestrial climate in eastern North Greenland displayed elevated temperatures at moderate atmospheric CO2 levels and was highly variable, reflecting the shifting orbital and ocean circulation forcings in the Arctic as the world cooled, according to proxy records from speleothems.
{"title":"Late Miocene Arctic warmth and terrestrial climate recorded by North Greenland speleothems","authors":"Gina E. Moseley, Gabriella Koltai, Jonathan L. Baker, Jian Wang, Heather Stoll, Anika Donner, Lena Friedrich, Christoph Spötl, M. Paul Smith, Denis Scholz, Hai Cheng, Adam Hartland, Clivia Hejny, R. Lawrence Edwards","doi":"10.1038/s41561-025-01822-0","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41561-025-01822-0","url":null,"abstract":"The sensitivity of terrestrial Arctic climate during the Late Miocene remains poorly understood, despite this interval marking the transition towards a cooler, more variable global climate and the prelude to Northern Hemisphere glaciation. Here we present a Late Miocene terrestrial proxy record, developed through the analysis of speleothems, from eastern North Greenland (Kalaallit Nunaat). Growth periods indicate multiple episodes of permafrost absence between ~10 and 5 Ma, suggesting mean annual air temperatures ~14 °C higher than present coinciding with atmospheric CO2 concentrations above ~310 ppm and local sea surface temperature anomalies >2 °C higher than present. Such moderate thresholds for permafrost absence highlight the climate sensitivity of North Greenland. Spikes in siliciclastic-derived trace elements ~6.3 and ~5.6 Ma are interpreted as terrestrial indicators for Late Miocene ephemeral glaciers in North Greenland. Climate variability recorded during speleothem growth periods was predominantly forced by obliquity, although, in the earliest Late Miocene, obliquity-scale anti-phasing with Antarctica may have occurred. Regional sea-ice extent was at its greatest following ~5.6 Ma during phases of transient glacial–interglacial cycles. Our findings highlight the sensitivity of the Arctic climate system and permafrost to modest CO2 levels and provide insights into regional responses to orbital forcing. The Late Miocene terrestrial climate in eastern North Greenland displayed elevated temperatures at moderate atmospheric CO2 levels and was highly variable, reflecting the shifting orbital and ocean circulation forcings in the Arctic as the world cooled, according to proxy records from speleothems.","PeriodicalId":19053,"journal":{"name":"Nature Geoscience","volume":"18 12","pages":"1252-1258"},"PeriodicalIF":16.1,"publicationDate":"2025-10-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.nature.comhttps://www.nature.com/articles/s41561-025-01822-0.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145699210","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-10-21DOI: 10.1038/s41561-025-01774-5
Yan-Ning Kuo, Flavio Lehner, Isla R. Simpson, Clara Deser, Adam S. Phillips, Matthew Newman, Sang-Ik Shin, Spencer Wong, Julie M. Arblaster
{"title":"Publisher Correction: Recent southwestern US drought exacerbated by anthropogenic aerosols and tropical ocean warming","authors":"Yan-Ning Kuo, Flavio Lehner, Isla R. Simpson, Clara Deser, Adam S. Phillips, Matthew Newman, Sang-Ik Shin, Spencer Wong, Julie M. Arblaster","doi":"10.1038/s41561-025-01774-5","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41561-025-01774-5","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":19053,"journal":{"name":"Nature Geoscience","volume":"18 11","pages":"1180-1180"},"PeriodicalIF":16.1,"publicationDate":"2025-10-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.nature.comhttps://www.nature.com/articles/s41561-025-01774-5.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145456856","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-10-14DOI: 10.1038/s41561-025-01811-3
Da Wang, Nicole X. Nie, Bradley J. Peters, James M. D. Day, Steven B. Shirey, Richard W. Carlson
Earth’s bulk composition has elemental and isotopic characteristics that cannot be fully reconciled with a mixture of known primitive meteorite compositions1–3. One potential explanation for this is that the proto-Earth accreted materials with isotopic signatures distinct from those accreted after the Moon-forming giant impact. Here we report high-precision mass-independent potassium isotopic measurements from thermal ionization mass spectrometry of terrestrial rocks from various ancient and modern sources in the crust and mantle that we argue are consistent with this explanation. Specifically, we found that some mafic Archaean rocks derived from the Hadean–Eoarchaean mantle (including samples from Isua, Nuvvuagittuq and the Kaapvaal Craton) and certain modern ocean island basalts (from La Réunion Island and Kama’ehuakanaloa volcano, Hawaii) exhibit an average 40K deficit of 65 parts per million compared to all other terrestrial samples analysed. The deficit distinguishes these samples from the bulk silicate Earth and any known meteorite group and cannot result from magmatic processes. Therefore, we propose this 40K deficit represents primitive proto-Earth mantle domains that largely escaped mantle mixing after the giant impact and exist in the present-day deep mantle, contributing to some modern hotspot volcanism. Some mafic rocks have a ⁴⁰K/³⁹K ratio lower than all other terrestrial samples, according to isotopic composition analyses, suggesting parts of Earth’s mantle have retained their composition prior to the Moon-forming impact to the present day.
地球的整体组成具有元素和同位素特征，这些特征不能与已知的原始陨石组成的混合物完全一致1 - 3。一种可能的解释是，原地球吸积的物质具有同位素特征，与月球形成大碰撞后吸积的物质不同。在这里，我们报告了来自地壳和地幔中各种古代和现代来源的陆相岩石的热电离质谱的高精度质量无关的钾同位素测量，我们认为这与这种解释是一致的。具体来说，我们发现，与所有其他陆地样本相比，来自于海底宙-太古宙地幔的一些基性太古宙岩石（包括来自Isua， Nuvvuagittuq和Kaapvaal克拉通的样本）和某些现代海洋岛屿玄武岩（来自夏威夷的La r union岛和Kama 'ehuakanaloa火山）的平均40K缺陷为百万分之65。这种缺陷将这些样品与大块硅酸盐地球和任何已知的陨石群区分开来，并且不可能是岩浆作用的结果。因此，我们认为这40K赤字代表了原始的原地球地幔域，这些域在大碰撞后基本上逃脱了地幔混合，存在于今天的深部地幔中，对现代热点火山活动有贡献。根据同位素组成分析，一些基性岩石的⁴⁰K/³⁹K比低于所有其他陆地样本，这表明部分地幔在月球形成之前一直保持着它们的组成直到今天。
{"title":"Potassium-40 isotopic evidence for an extant pre-giant-impact component of Earth’s mantle","authors":"Da Wang, Nicole X. Nie, Bradley J. Peters, James M. D. Day, Steven B. Shirey, Richard W. Carlson","doi":"10.1038/s41561-025-01811-3","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41561-025-01811-3","url":null,"abstract":"Earth’s bulk composition has elemental and isotopic characteristics that cannot be fully reconciled with a mixture of known primitive meteorite compositions1–3. One potential explanation for this is that the proto-Earth accreted materials with isotopic signatures distinct from those accreted after the Moon-forming giant impact. Here we report high-precision mass-independent potassium isotopic measurements from thermal ionization mass spectrometry of terrestrial rocks from various ancient and modern sources in the crust and mantle that we argue are consistent with this explanation. Specifically, we found that some mafic Archaean rocks derived from the Hadean–Eoarchaean mantle (including samples from Isua, Nuvvuagittuq and the Kaapvaal Craton) and certain modern ocean island basalts (from La Réunion Island and Kama’ehuakanaloa volcano, Hawaii) exhibit an average 40K deficit of 65 parts per million compared to all other terrestrial samples analysed. The deficit distinguishes these samples from the bulk silicate Earth and any known meteorite group and cannot result from magmatic processes. Therefore, we propose this 40K deficit represents primitive proto-Earth mantle domains that largely escaped mantle mixing after the giant impact and exist in the present-day deep mantle, contributing to some modern hotspot volcanism. Some mafic rocks have a ⁴⁰K/³⁹K ratio lower than all other terrestrial samples, according to isotopic composition analyses, suggesting parts of Earth’s mantle have retained their composition prior to the Moon-forming impact to the present day.","PeriodicalId":19053,"journal":{"name":"Nature Geoscience","volume":"18 11","pages":"1174-1179"},"PeriodicalIF":16.1,"publicationDate":"2025-10-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145456906","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-10-14DOI: 10.1038/s41561-025-01813-1
Wangbo Zhang, Changlong Wei, Jiuyu Li, Qing Zhou, Jianqing Ma, Yanli Li, Yuxuan He, Yi Zou, Yongming Luo, Yijun Yao
China’s cropland soil has faced acidification since the latter half of the twentieth century; however, the temporal and spatial variations of this are poorly known. Here we analyse cropland soil acidification using 7,024 regional surveys and a machine learning model to project spatiotemporal variations in cropland topsoil pH across China from 1985 to 2040. Our results reveal a turning point in China’s agricultural soil chemistry: consistent acidification from the 1980s ceased as a whole around 2013 (with a cumulative pH decline of ~0.25 units during 1985–2013), correlating strongly with changes in nitrogen fertilizer application patterns consequent to agricultural policy reforms. Regional heterogeneity was observed, with paddy fields exhibiting pH recovery post-2013 while values in dryland soils remained largely static since 2000. These findings underscore the critical role of agricultural policy and nitrogen fertilizer management in shaping soil health dynamics. This Article offers guidance for sustainable agriculture in China while providing insights applicable to global farming practices. China’s cropland soil experienced acidification between the 1980s and about 2013 correlating with nitrogen fertilizer application patterns, followed by heterogeneous soil pH recovery, according to combined regional surveys and machine learning.
{"title":"Stabilization of acidification in China’s cropland soils","authors":"Wangbo Zhang, Changlong Wei, Jiuyu Li, Qing Zhou, Jianqing Ma, Yanli Li, Yuxuan He, Yi Zou, Yongming Luo, Yijun Yao","doi":"10.1038/s41561-025-01813-1","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41561-025-01813-1","url":null,"abstract":"China’s cropland soil has faced acidification since the latter half of the twentieth century; however, the temporal and spatial variations of this are poorly known. Here we analyse cropland soil acidification using 7,024 regional surveys and a machine learning model to project spatiotemporal variations in cropland topsoil pH across China from 1985 to 2040. Our results reveal a turning point in China’s agricultural soil chemistry: consistent acidification from the 1980s ceased as a whole around 2013 (with a cumulative pH decline of ~0.25 units during 1985–2013), correlating strongly with changes in nitrogen fertilizer application patterns consequent to agricultural policy reforms. Regional heterogeneity was observed, with paddy fields exhibiting pH recovery post-2013 while values in dryland soils remained largely static since 2000. These findings underscore the critical role of agricultural policy and nitrogen fertilizer management in shaping soil health dynamics. This Article offers guidance for sustainable agriculture in China while providing insights applicable to global farming practices. China’s cropland soil experienced acidification between the 1980s and about 2013 correlating with nitrogen fertilizer application patterns, followed by heterogeneous soil pH recovery, according to combined regional surveys and machine learning.","PeriodicalId":19053,"journal":{"name":"Nature Geoscience","volume":"18 11","pages":"1125-1132"},"PeriodicalIF":16.1,"publicationDate":"2025-10-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145456905","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-10-13DOI: 10.1038/s41561-025-01821-1
X. Shen, J. L. Jacquot, Y. Li, S. A. L. Sharpe, J. A. Dykema, G. P. Schill, K. P. Bowman, C. R. Homeyer, M. Fraund, R. C. Moffet, T. E. Olayemi, J. V. Pittman, F. A. Rivera-Adorno, D. M. Murphy, J. B. Smith, A. Laskin, F. N. Keutsch, D. J. Cziczo
The stratosphere is generally considered to be stable, with minimal vertical mixing. However, deep convection can transport low-altitude material above the tropopause. Here we use in situ single-particle measurements from the Dynamics and Chemistry of the Summer Stratosphere mission to show that carbonaceous-sulfate particles from the troposphere account for up to 90% of the stratospheric particles with physical diameter from 0.1 to 1.5 µm in a 4-km layer above the tropopause during an active fire season in 2022. We find that ~43% of the stratospheric carbonaceous-sulfate particles originate from biomass burning. These particles, which are chemically complex and organic-rich, do not remain unchanged once injected into the stratosphere, but form mixtures containing both tropospheric and stratospheric components, indicating perturbation of the stratospheric aerosol layer. We suggest that the increasing frequency and intensity of wildfires combined with increasing deep convection as the climate warms may enhance the delivery of biomass burning products to the lower stratosphere, with implications for ozone chemistry and radiative forcing. Particles produced by intense biomass burning can be transported, potentially by deep convection, in large numbers to the lower stratosphere, changing the stratospheric aerosol layer’s chemical and radiative properties, according to in situ measurements during an active fire season.
{"title":"Stratospheric aerosol perturbation by tropospheric biomass burning and deep convection","authors":"X. Shen, J. L. Jacquot, Y. Li, S. A. L. Sharpe, J. A. Dykema, G. P. Schill, K. P. Bowman, C. R. Homeyer, M. Fraund, R. C. Moffet, T. E. Olayemi, J. V. Pittman, F. A. Rivera-Adorno, D. M. Murphy, J. B. Smith, A. Laskin, F. N. Keutsch, D. J. Cziczo","doi":"10.1038/s41561-025-01821-1","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41561-025-01821-1","url":null,"abstract":"The stratosphere is generally considered to be stable, with minimal vertical mixing. However, deep convection can transport low-altitude material above the tropopause. Here we use in situ single-particle measurements from the Dynamics and Chemistry of the Summer Stratosphere mission to show that carbonaceous-sulfate particles from the troposphere account for up to 90% of the stratospheric particles with physical diameter from 0.1 to 1.5 µm in a 4-km layer above the tropopause during an active fire season in 2022. We find that ~43% of the stratospheric carbonaceous-sulfate particles originate from biomass burning. These particles, which are chemically complex and organic-rich, do not remain unchanged once injected into the stratosphere, but form mixtures containing both tropospheric and stratospheric components, indicating perturbation of the stratospheric aerosol layer. We suggest that the increasing frequency and intensity of wildfires combined with increasing deep convection as the climate warms may enhance the delivery of biomass burning products to the lower stratosphere, with implications for ozone chemistry and radiative forcing. Particles produced by intense biomass burning can be transported, potentially by deep convection, in large numbers to the lower stratosphere, changing the stratospheric aerosol layer’s chemical and radiative properties, according to in situ measurements during an active fire season.","PeriodicalId":19053,"journal":{"name":"Nature Geoscience","volume":"18 11","pages":"1109-1116"},"PeriodicalIF":16.1,"publicationDate":"2025-10-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145456858","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-10-13DOI: 10.1038/s41561-025-01820-2
Andrew J. Smye, Peter B. Kelemen
The origin and composition of Earth’s silica-rich continental crust, particularly the lower crust, remain uncertain. Stable continental crust, including cratons and crust older than 200 million years, is marked by enrichment of radiogenic heat-producing elements (U, Th and K) in the upper crust and depletion in the lower crust. Because the lower crust probably consists of >50% aluminous metasedimentary and evolved metaigneous rocks—both initially enriched in U and Th—continental differentiation requires a mechanism to transfer these elements upwards. Here, in our analysis of partially melted metasedimentary and metaigneous rocks, we show that ultrahigh temperatures (>900 °C) are essential to stratify heat production and stabilize crust. Removal of small fractions of ultrahigh-temperature melt generated by fluid-absent melting can produce the observed lower-crustal depletions in U and Th. By contrast, lower-temperature melting fails to drive differentiation owing to the resilience of monazite to dissolution in granitic melts. Our findings establish ultrahigh-temperature melting as an important criterion for the formation of stable continents, providing a direct link between the formation of cratons and ultrahigh-temperature metamorphic terrains and the supercontinent cycle. This insight constrains the tectonic settings responsible for crustal differentiation. Stabilization of continental crust requires temperatures of over 900 °C, establishing a link between ultrahigh-temperature metamorphism and craton formation, according to a study of U and Th concentrations in metasedimentary and metaigneous rocks.
{"title":"Ultra-hot origins of stable continents","authors":"Andrew J. Smye, Peter B. Kelemen","doi":"10.1038/s41561-025-01820-2","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41561-025-01820-2","url":null,"abstract":"The origin and composition of Earth’s silica-rich continental crust, particularly the lower crust, remain uncertain. Stable continental crust, including cratons and crust older than 200 million years, is marked by enrichment of radiogenic heat-producing elements (U, Th and K) in the upper crust and depletion in the lower crust. Because the lower crust probably consists of >50% aluminous metasedimentary and evolved metaigneous rocks—both initially enriched in U and Th—continental differentiation requires a mechanism to transfer these elements upwards. Here, in our analysis of partially melted metasedimentary and metaigneous rocks, we show that ultrahigh temperatures (>900 °C) are essential to stratify heat production and stabilize crust. Removal of small fractions of ultrahigh-temperature melt generated by fluid-absent melting can produce the observed lower-crustal depletions in U and Th. By contrast, lower-temperature melting fails to drive differentiation owing to the resilience of monazite to dissolution in granitic melts. Our findings establish ultrahigh-temperature melting as an important criterion for the formation of stable continents, providing a direct link between the formation of cratons and ultrahigh-temperature metamorphic terrains and the supercontinent cycle. This insight constrains the tectonic settings responsible for crustal differentiation. Stabilization of continental crust requires temperatures of over 900 °C, establishing a link between ultrahigh-temperature metamorphism and craton formation, according to a study of U and Th concentrations in metasedimentary and metaigneous rocks.","PeriodicalId":19053,"journal":{"name":"Nature Geoscience","volume":"18 12","pages":"1296-1302"},"PeriodicalIF":16.1,"publicationDate":"2025-10-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.nature.comhttps://www.nature.com/articles/s41561-025-01820-2.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145699214","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-10-13DOI: 10.1038/s41561-025-01817-x
Michael Manuel Sori, Anton Ermakov, James Tuttle Keane
The global topographic dichotomy on Mars is a fundamental feature of the planet, but its origin remains debated. The timing now seems right for a Mars orbital gravity mission that could test competing dichotomy hypotheses.
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