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 day 6 hours ago

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.

Long-lived partial melt beneath Cascade Range volcanoes

Thu, 01/23/2025 - 00:00

Nature Geoscience, Published online: 23 January 2025; doi:10.1038/s41561-024-01630-y

Upper-crustal magma bodies are present beneath most Cascade Range volcanoes, indicating that large volumes of melt can persist at shallow depth through eruption cycles, according to systematic seismic imaging.

Dichotomy retreat and aqueous alteration on Noachian Mars recorded in highland remnants

Mon, 01/20/2025 - 00:00

Nature Geoscience, Published online: 20 January 2025; doi:10.1038/s41561-024-01634-8

The Martian dichotomy boundary receded hundreds of kilometres in the Mawrth Vallis region and left behind mounds that record changing aqueous conditions during the Noachian (4.1–3.7 Ga), according to a geomorphological and spectroscopic study.

Author Correction: Recent uplift of Chomolungma enhanced by river drainage piracy

Thu, 01/16/2025 - 00:00

Nature Geoscience, Published online: 16 January 2025; doi:10.1038/s41561-025-01643-1

Author Correction: Recent uplift of Chomolungma enhanced by river drainage piracy

Author Correction: An ongoing satellite–ring cycle of Mars and the origins of Phobos and Deimos

Wed, 01/15/2025 - 00:00

Nature Geoscience, Published online: 15 January 2025; doi:10.1038/s41561-025-01641-3

Author Correction: An ongoing satellite–ring cycle of Mars and the origins of Phobos and Deimos

Episodic warm climates on early Mars primed by crustal hydration

Wed, 01/15/2025 - 00:00

Nature Geoscience, Published online: 15 January 2025; doi:10.1038/s41561-024-01626-8

Photochemical modelling suggests that H2 outgassing from crustal hydration could have supported transient warming episodes on early Mars in a CO2-rich atmosphere with abrupt transitions to cold climate states in a CO-rich atmosphere.

Magma composition drives tremors during a volcanic eruption

Tue, 01/14/2025 - 00:00

Nature Geoscience, Published online: 14 January 2025; doi:10.1038/s41561-024-01624-w

Near-daily sampling of volcanic ash during a three-month eruption reveals shifts in mantle-derived liquid magma (melt) composition, highlighting its potential as a monitoring and forecasting tool. These shifts align with the amplitude of volcanic tremor, a persistent seismic signal, suggesting a link between magma viscosity, shallow bubble escape dynamics, and tremor changes.

Outer planet frontier of geoscience

Mon, 01/13/2025 - 00:00

Nature Geoscience, Published online: 13 January 2025; doi:10.1038/s41561-024-01627-7

Space exploration has expanded the realm of geoscience to the outermost Solar System. A new generation of missions shines the way.

Shifting melt composition linked to volcanic tremor at Cumbre Vieja volcano

Fri, 01/10/2025 - 00:00

Nature Geoscience, Published online: 10 January 2025; doi:10.1038/s41561-024-01623-x

The SiO2 contents of erupted volcanic melts are correlated with persistent seismic signals that accompany eruptions—volcanic tremor—and may represent an eruption monitoring tool, according to a study of volcanic ash glasses from Cumbre Vieja volcano.

Daytime heat stress is reduced by agricultural irrigation in North American cities

Thu, 01/09/2025 - 00:00

Nature Geoscience, Published online: 09 January 2025; doi:10.1038/s41561-024-01618-8

This study examines the influence of agricultural irrigation on heat stress and contrasts it against local impacts of urbanization in North American cities using regional climate model simulations. The results indicate that irrigation decreases air temperature and increases relative humidity, with daytime urban moist heat stress reduced according to most indices.

Daytime urban heat stress in North America reduced by irrigation

Thu, 01/09/2025 - 00:00

Nature Geoscience, Published online: 09 January 2025; doi:10.1038/s41561-024-01613-z

Convection-permitting regional climate simulations suggest that irrigation reduces daytime urban heat stress in North America.

Variation in slip behaviour along megathrusts controlled by multiple physical properties

Wed, 01/08/2025 - 00:00

Nature Geoscience, Published online: 08 January 2025; doi:10.1038/s41561-024-01617-9

Multiple factors, including slab geometry and upper-plate stress state, determine the variation in slip behaviour along most megathrusts, according to a synthesis of observations of the Alaska, Hikurangi and Nankai subduction zones.