Nature Geoscience

Nature Geoscience is a monthly journal dedicated to publishing high-quality original research papers across all areas of the geosciences. The journal’s content reflects all the disciplines within the geosciences, including studies of the Earth’s climate system, the solid Earth and the planets. Nature Geoscience covers studies based on all the methods used by geoscientists, ranging from field work and numerical modelling on regional and global scales to theoretical studies and remote sensing. Physical, chemical and biological investigations that contribute to our understanding of the Earth system or the planets are all represented.

URL: http://feeds.nature.com/ngeo/rss/current

Updated: 1 week 4 days ago

Evidence for pre-Noachian granitic rocks on Mars from quartz in meteorite NWA 7533

Fri, 02/21/2025 - 00:00

Nature Geoscience, Published online: 21 February 2025; doi:10.1038/s41561-025-01653-z

Quartz-rich clasts in Martian meteorite NWA 7533 indicate the presence of granitic rocks on early Mars that formed via hydrothermal activity and impact melting, according to petrologic and in situ geochemical analyses.

Meltwater Pulse 1A sea-level-rise patterns explained by global cascade of ice loss

Tue, 02/18/2025 - 00:00

Nature Geoscience, Published online: 18 February 2025; doi:10.1038/s41561-025-01648-w

Global sea-level rise during Meltwater Pulse 1A followed sequential ice loss from the Laurentide, Eurasian and then West Antarctic ice sheets, according to a fingerprinting approach.

Formation of late-generation atmospheric compounds inhibited by rapid deposition

Mon, 02/17/2025 - 00:00

Nature Geoscience, Published online: 17 February 2025; doi:10.1038/s41561-025-01650-2

Rapid deposition of early-generation oxidation products substantially reduces the formation of late-generation atmospheric compounds, according to a deposition framework based on physicochemical properties and chemical modelling.

Pelagic calcifier proliferation along surface ocean gradients in carbonate chemistry

Wed, 02/12/2025 - 00:00

Nature Geoscience, Published online: 12 February 2025; doi:10.1038/s41561-025-01646-y

Natural gradients across surface ocean regions show that changes in carbonate chemistry projected for ocean alkalinity enhancement could promote the proliferation of calcifying phytoplankton. This shift would increase an alkalinity sink, thus reducing the efficiency of ocean alkalinity enhancement as a CO2 removal method.

Global carbonate chemistry gradients reveal a negative feedback on ocean alkalinity enhancement

Wed, 02/12/2025 - 00:00

Nature Geoscience, Published online: 12 February 2025; doi:10.1038/s41561-025-01644-0

Intensive ocean alkalinity enhancement will cause a proliferation of calcifying organisms, which reduces its effectiveness as a carbon sequestration approach, according to an analysis of coccolithophore sensitivity to natural carbonate chemistry variability.

Rare-earth-rich rhabdophane

Tue, 02/11/2025 - 00:00

Nature Geoscience, Published online: 11 February 2025; doi:10.1038/s41561-024-01633-9

Rhabdophane contains high concentrations of the rare earth elements, yet Tobias Bamforth argues that it remains underappreciated as a significant host of these critical metals.

Signs of eruption decoded with petrology

Tue, 02/11/2025 - 00:00

Nature Geoscience, Published online: 11 February 2025; doi:10.1038/s41561-025-01651-1

Sustained monitoring is essential for assessing volcanic hazards. Integration with igneous petrology is key to linking monitoring data to underlying magmatic processes.

Earth’s inner core is changing in shape as well as in rotation rate

Mon, 02/10/2025 - 00:00

Nature Geoscience, Published online: 10 February 2025; doi:10.1038/s41561-025-01647-x

The rigid-body motion of Earth’s wandering inner core has now been reliably tracked over the past 20 years. With this knowledge, we can compare seismic recordings obtained when the inner core returns to the same position after moving for several years. More is changing than just the inner core position; the soft outermost inner core probably deforms.

Annual-scale variability in both the rotation rate and near surface of Earth’s inner core

Mon, 02/10/2025 - 00:00

Nature Geoscience, Published online: 10 February 2025; doi:10.1038/s41561-025-01642-2

Earth’s inner core has both changed its relative rotation rate and deformed in the past few decades, according to an analysis of seismic waves recorded when the inner core occupied the same relative location owing to its changing rotation rate.

Geochemistry of lithospheric aqueous fluids modified by nanoconfinement

Mon, 02/10/2025 - 00:00

Nature Geoscience, Published online: 10 February 2025; doi:10.1038/s41561-024-01629-5

Diverse lithospheric rocks show nanoporosity that changes the geochemistry of fluids and rock reactivity during fluid–rock interactions, according to a study including electron microscopy, molecular dynamics and thermodynamic modelling.

Rapid rise of early ocean pH under elevated weathering rates

Mon, 02/10/2025 - 00:00

Nature Geoscience, Published online: 10 February 2025; doi:10.1038/s41561-025-01649-9

Ocean pH probably rose rapidly in the Hadean and early Archaean due to elevated rates of seafloor and continental weathering, according to a model integrating global carbon cycling and ocean geochemistry with continental growth and mantle thermal evolution.

Explainability can foster trust in artificial intelligence in geoscience

Wed, 02/05/2025 - 00:00

Nature Geoscience, Published online: 05 February 2025; doi:10.1038/s41561-025-01639-x

Uptake of explainable artificial intelligence (XAI) methods in geoscience is currently limited. We argue that such methods that reveal the decision processes of AI models can foster trust in their results and facilitate the broader adoption of AI.

Increased crevassing across accelerating Greenland Ice Sheet margins

Mon, 02/03/2025 - 00:00

Nature Geoscience, Published online: 03 February 2025; doi:10.1038/s41561-024-01636-6

Greenland-wide observations of crevasse volume and distribution suggest substantial increases in crevassing between 2016 and 2021 at marine-terminating sectors with accelerating ice flow.

Contribution of sandy beaches to the global marine silicon cycle

Thu, 01/30/2025 - 00:00

Nature Geoscience, Published online: 30 January 2025; doi:10.1038/s41561-024-01628-6

Waves breaking on sandy beaches globally contribute a similar amount of dissolved silicon to oceans as that from rivers, according to a global analysis informed by experiments performed on a simulated quartz sand beach.

Burning of woody debris dominates fire emissions in the Amazon and Cerrado

Mon, 01/27/2025 - 00:00

Nature Geoscience, Published online: 27 January 2025; doi:10.1038/s41561-024-01637-5

Fire emissions in the Amazon and Cerrado biomes are mainly produced from smouldering combustion of woody debris, according to observationally constrained fire emissions inventories.

Deciphering unrest at Campi Flegrei

Fri, 01/24/2025 - 00:00

Nature Geoscience, Published online: 24 January 2025; doi:10.1038/s41561-025-01640-4

The cause of episodes of unrest at caldera volcanoes is often unclear. Analysis of the sulfur composition of gas emissions at Campi Flegrei in Italy suggests a magmatic origin of the recent unrest at this hazardous caldera.

Water determines geomicrobiological impact on stone heritage

Fri, 01/24/2025 - 00:00

Nature Geoscience, Published online: 24 January 2025; doi:10.1038/s41561-024-01631-x

Biofilms on the surface of outdoor stone heritage contribute to either biodeterioration or bioprotection. We suggest that halting biofilm activity by limiting biologically available water shifts geomicrobiological development towards bioprotection.

Escalation of caldera unrest indicated by increasing emission of isotopically light sulfur

Fri, 01/24/2025 - 00:00

Nature Geoscience, Published online: 24 January 2025; doi:10.1038/s41561-024-01632-w

The recent increase in isotopically light sulfur emissions from Campi Flegrei (Italy) is probably the result of degassing magma at ≥6 km depth and could be an indicator of caldera reawakening generally, according to observations and simulations.

Decadal persistence of grassland soil organic matter derived from litter and pyrogenic inputs

Fri, 01/24/2025 - 00:00

Nature Geoscience, Published online: 24 January 2025; doi:10.1038/s41561-025-01638-y

Plant litter-derived mineral-associated organic matter that formed in the first year and pyrogenic organic inputs both persist on a decadal scale in grassland soil via distinct mechanisms, according to a soil organic matter decomposition experiment.

Coral bleaching and mortality overestimated in projections based on Degree Heating Months

Thu, 01/23/2025 - 00:00

Nature Geoscience, Published online: 23 January 2025; doi:10.1038/s41561-024-01635-7

Coral bleaching and mortality are substantially overestimated in most model projections that are based on Degree Heating Months instead of Degree Heating Weeks, calling into question results generated using Degree Heating Months.