Nature Geoscience contents: April 2012 Volume 5 Number 4 pp229-300

TABLE OF CONTENTS April 2012 Volume 5, Issue 4 Editorial Correspondence In the press Research Highlights News and Views Review Letters Articles Erratum Subscribe   Facebook   RSS   Recommend to library   Twitter   Advertisement Attending the EGU Meeting in Vienna? Join us at the Nature Publishing Group Booth #51 for your chance to: - Browse and take free sample copies of leading journals from NPG, including Nature, Nature Climate Change and Nature Geoscience. - Subscribe and save 20% - special discount rate for conference attendees on personal subscriptions.   Editorial Top What lies beneath p229 doi:10.1038/ngeo1448 The mid-ocean ridges mark the lines along which the Earth is turning itself inside out through the process of plate tectonics. Advances in technology are helping to reveal the intricate details of the magma systems that feed the rifting process. Full Text | PDF Correspondence Top Constraints on hyperthermals p231 Appy Sluijs, James C. Zachos & Richard E. Zeebe doi:10.1038/ngeo1423 Full Text | PDF See also: Correspondence by Cui et al. Reply to 'Constraints on hyperthermals' pp231 - 232 Ying Cui, Lee R. Kump, Andy J. Ridgwell, Adam J. Charles, Christopher K. Junium, Aaron F. Diefendorf, Katherine H. Freeman, Nathan M. Urban & Ian C. Harding doi:10.1038/ngeo1424 Full Text | PDF See also: Correspondence by Sluijs et al. In the press Top Before the big volcano blows p233 Alexandra Witze doi:10.1038/ngeo1437 Full Text | PDF Research Highlights Top Dust and rain | Chondrules in the wind | Cretaceous circulation | Emissions blend | Poorly mixed mantle News and Views Top Plate tectonics: Piecing together rifts pp235 - 236 Douglas R. Toomey doi:10.1038/ngeo1435 Earth's crust is formed where tectonic plates rift apart and upwelling magma solidifies. Disparate observations from rifts beneath the oceans and on land provide insights into the dynamics of rifting and opportunities for synthesis. Full Text | PDF See also: Letter by Canales et al. | Letter by Rioux et al. | Letter by Pagli et al. Climate science: Constraints on the high end pp236 - 237 Isaac Held doi:10.1038/ngeo1436 The plausibility of the high end of global warming projections in recent assessments is a subject of debate. A study of multi-model climate simulations argues that we need to take the possibility of strong warming seriously. Full Text | PDF See also: Letter by Rowlands et al. Volcanology: Opening wide the magma spigot pp238 - 239 Matthew Pritchard doi:10.1038/ngeo1439 The supply of magma to Kīlauea Volcano was relatively stable for 50 years. But between 2003 and 2007, the volcano experienced a surge in the supply of magma from the mantle that implies short-term changes in the underlying Hawaiian hotspot. Full Text | PDF See also: Article by Poland et al. Palaeoclimate: Fossils from above p239 Alicia Newton doi:10.1038/ngeo1440 Full Text | PDF Moon formation: Earth's titanium twin pp240 - 241 Matthias M. M. Meier doi:10.1038/ngeo1434 A giant impact on the young proto-Earth is thought to explain the formation of the Moon. High-precision analysis of titanium isotopes in lunar rocks suggests that the Moon and Earth's mantle are more similar than existing models permit. Full Text | PDF See also: Letter by Zhang et al. Geoscience JOBS of the week Three joint research and teaching positions in geoscience and geothermal power Reykjavik University 40 Postdoctoral Positions in the fields of Energy, Earth and Environment, Health, Key Technologies, Structure of Matter, and Aeronautics, Space and Transport Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres Full Professor of Geo-environmental Engineering Delft University of Technology Professor of Steel, Hybrid and Composite Structures Delft University of Technology Project Based Content Writer - Dinosaurs Shmoop More Science jobs from Geoscience EVENT 34th International Geological Congress 05 October - 10 October 2012 UK More science events from Review Top Geophysical constraints on the dynamics of spreading centres from rifting episodes on land pp242 - 250 Tim J. Wright, Freysteinn Sigmundsson, Carolina Pagli, Manahloh Belachew, Ian J. Hamling, Bryndís Brandsdóttir, Derek Keir, Rikke Pedersen, Atalay Ayele, Cindy Ebinger, Páll Einarsson, Elias Lewi & Eric Calais doi:10.1038/ngeo1428 Most of Earth's crust is created at mid-ocean ridges that are submerged deep beneath the oceans. Analyses of geodetic and seismic data from rare sections of ridges that are exposed on land in Iceland and the Afar region in east Africa demonstrate that rifting episodes at these sites operate with remarkably similar mechanisms. Abstract | Full Text | PDF Letters Top The proto-Earth as a significant source of lunar material pp251 - 255 Junjun Zhang, Nicolas Dauphas, Andrew M. Davis, Ingo Leya & Alexei Fedkin doi:10.1038/ngeo1429 Geochemical evidence continues to challenge giant impact models, which predict that the Moon formed from both proto-Earth and impactor material. Analyses of lunar samples reveal isotopic homogeneity in titanium, a highly refractory element, suggesting lunar material was derived predominantly from the mantle of the proto-Earth. First paragraph | Full Text | PDF See also: News and Views by Meier Broad range of 2050 warming from an observationally constrained large climate model ensemble pp256 - 260 Daniel J. Rowlands, David J. Frame, Duncan Ackerley, Tolu Aina, Ben B. B. Booth, Carl Christensen, Matthew Collins, Nicholas Faull, Chris E. Forest, Benjamin S. Grandey, Edward Gryspeerdt, Eleanor J. Highwood, William J. Ingram, Sylvia Knight, Ana Lopez, Neil Massey, Frances McNamara, Nicolai Meinshausen, Claudio Piani, Suzanne M. Rosier, Benjamin M. Sanderson, Leonard A. Smith, Dáithi A. Stone, Milo Thurston, Kuniko Yamazaki, Y. Hiro Yamazaki & Myles R. Allen doi:10.1038/ngeo1430 The global-mean temperature evolution over the course of the twenty-first century is uncertain. Simulations with an ensemble of thousands of climate models that reproduce observed warming over the past 50 years suggest that a mid-range greenhouse-gas emissions scenario without mitigation could lead to a warming of between 1.4 and 3 K by 2050, relative to 1961-1990. First paragraph | Full Text | PDF See also: News and Views by Held Trends and seasonal cycles in the isotopic composition of nitrous oxide since 1940 pp261 - 265 S. Park, P. Croteau, K. A. Boering, D. M. Etheridge, D. Ferretti, P. J. Fraser, K-R. Kim, P. B. Krummel, R. L. Langenfelds, T. D. van Ommen, L. P. Steele & C. M. Trudinger doi:10.1038/ngeo1421 The atmospheric nitrous oxide concentration has increased by 20% since 1750. Analyses of Antarctic firn and archived air samples reveal seasonal cycles in the isotopic signature of nitrous oxide, which can help to disentangle the contribution of surface sources. First paragraph | Full Text | PDF Influence of the tropics and southern westerlies on glacial interhemispheric asymmetry pp266 - 269 Patrick De Deckker, Matthias Moros, Kerstin Perner & Eystein Jansen doi:10.1038/ngeo1431 Latitudinal variations in the location of the southern westerly wind belt have been associated with millennial-scale climate variations during the last glacial period. A reconstruction of sea-surface temperatures off the southern coast of Australia suggests that these climate variations also drove changes in the location of the oceanic subtropical front. First paragraph | Full Text | PDF Links between iron input and opal deposition in the Pleistocene equatorial Pacific Ocean pp270 - 274 Richard W. Murray, Margaret Leinen & Christopher W. Knowlton doi:10.1038/ngeo1422 Iron is often a limiting nutrient in ocean regions that have a constant supply of other macro-nutrients, and changes in iron supply over time have been linked to fluctuations in primary productivity. Marine sediments from the equatorial Pacific Ocean show that over the past million years, iron input was linked to the export and burial of biogenic silica. First paragraph | Full Text | PDF Protracted timescales of lower crustal growth at the fast-spreading East Pacific Rise pp275 - 278 Matthew Rioux, C. Johan Lissenberg, Noah M. McLean, Samuel A. Bowring, Christopher J. MacLeod, Eric Hellebrand & Nobumichi Shimizu doi:10.1038/ngeo1378 Rates of crust formation at mid-ocean ridges are expected to vary with rates of plate spreading. U–Pb dating of zircon minerals from the fast-spreading East Pacific Rise reveals protracted formation of gabbroic rocks over timescales comparable with slow-spreading mid-ocean ridges, suggesting similar timescales of magmatic processes at slow- and fast-spreading ridges. First paragraph | Full Text | PDF See also: News and Views by Toomey Network of off-axis melt bodies at the East Pacific Rise pp279 - 283 J. P. Canales, H. Carton, S. M. Carbotte, J. C. Mutter, M. R. Nedimović, M. Xu, O. Aghaei, M. Marjanović & K. Newman doi:10.1038/ngeo1377 At faster-spreading mid-ocean ridges, the creation of new oceanic crust through magmatism usually occurs within a narrow zone on the ridge axis. Three-dimensional seismic images of the fast-spreading East Pacific Rise reveal a network of magmatic bodies 4–8 km away from the ridge axis that seem to be connected to the axial magma chamber. First paragraph | Full Text | PDF See also: News and Views by Toomey Shallow axial magma chamber at the slow-spreading Erta Ale Ridge pp284 - 288 Carolina Pagli, Tim J. Wright, Cynthia J. Ebinger, Sang-Ho Yun, Johnson R. Cann, Talfan Barnie & Atalay Ayele doi:10.1038/ngeo1414 Thermal models predict that spreading velocity at mid-ocean rifts should influence the geometry of the underlying magma chamber. InSAR data from the slow-spreading Ethiopian Rift identify a shallow, elongated magma chamber — a feature usually associated with fast-spreading rifts—beneath the Erta Ale segment, implying that spreading velocity may not be so important after all. First paragraph | Full Text | PDF See also: News and Views by Toomey Articles Top Initiation of the western branch of the East African Rift coeval with the eastern branch pp289 - 294 E. M. Roberts, N. J. Stevens, P. M. O'Connor, P. H. G. M. Dirks, M. D. Gottfried, W. C. Clyde, R. A. Armstrong, A. I. S. Kemp & S. Hemming doi:10.1038/ngeo1432 Rifting of the eastern part of the East African Rift System was thought to have begun several million years before its western counterpart. Reconstructions of drainage development, combined with dating of rift-related volcanic activity, suggest that rifting in the western branch may instead have begun at the same time as in the eastern branch. Abstract | Full Text | PDF A mantle-driven surge in magma supply to Kīlauea Volcano during 2003-2007 pp295 - 300 Michael P. Poland, Asta Miklius, A. Jeff Sutton & Carl R. Thornber doi:10.1038/ngeo1426 The supply of magma to Kīlauea Volcano, Hawai'i, was thought to have been steady over the past decades. Measurements of deformation, gas emissions, seismicity and lava composition and temperatures show that instead magma supply from the mantle doubled in 2003–2007, implying that hotspots can provide varying amounts of magma over just a few years. Abstract | Full Text | PDF See also: News and Views by Pritchard Erratum Top Hydroxyl radical buffered by isoprene oxidation over tropical forests p300 D. Taraborrelli, M. G. Lawrence, J. N. Crowley, T. J. Dillon, S. Gromov, C. B. M. Groß, L. Vereecken & J. Lelieveld doi:10.1038/ngeo1433 Full Text | PDF Top Advertisement Nature Climate Change – First anniversary highlights To mark the first anniversary of Nature Climate Change the editors have put together their favourite articles from the first 12 issues. The selection is currently free to view online.   Natureevents is a fully searchable, multi-disciplinary database designed to maximise exposure for events organisers. The contents of the Natureevents Directory are now live. The digital version is available here. Find the latest scientific conferences, courses, meetings and symposia on natureevents.com. For event advertising opportunities across the Nature Publishing Group portfolio please contact natureevents@nature.com More Nature Events

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