Nature Geoscience contents: May 2012 Volume 5 Number 5 pp301-363

TABLE OF CONTENTS May 2012 Volume 5, Issue 5 Editorial In the press Research Highlights News and Views Letters Articles Subscribe   Facebook   RSS   Recommend to library   Twitter   Advertisement The Arab world has a rich history of scientific breakthroughs. Ensure you're part of the scientific and medical community gaining access to breaking news in the region. Access Nature Middle East - your free portal for scientific and medical research, features, jobs and events in the Arabic speaking world. www.nature.com/nmiddleeast/ Follow us: Facebook, Twitter, & Google +   Editorial Top Climate change dialogues p301 doi:10.1038/ngeo1474 Human influence on the planet is undeniable. Making a switch from exploitation to maintenance of natural resources depends on a step change in communication, to convince the Earth's population of the necessity for a fundamental change of course. Full Text | PDF In the press Top Mercury revealed p303 Alexandra Witze doi:10.1038/ngeo1459 Full Text | PDF Research Highlights Top Climate change: Agricultural impacts | Plate tectonics: Immature subduction | Palaeoclimate: Southern extent | Core dynamics: History of instability News and Views Top Glaciology: No ice lost in the Karakoram pp305 - 306 Graham Cogley doi:10.1038/ngeo1456 The fate of glaciers in the greater Himalaya is widely discussed, but poorly known. A new measurement in the central Karakoram mountain range suggests that glacier mass change in this region contributes to sea-level rise nearly 0.05 mm per year less than has been thought. Full Text | PDF See also: Letter by Gardelle et al. Palaeoclimate: Hot spells on land pp306 - 307 Ross Secord doi:10.1038/ngeo1457 The hothouse climate of the early Eocene epoch was punctuated by a series of transient warming events linked to massive carbon release. Detailed terrestrial records for three of these events indicate that they were caused by similar underlying mechanisms. Full Text | PDF Earthquakes: Caught in the act pp307 - 309 Jochen Braunmiller doi:10.1038/ngeo1463 Faults break under the stress of plate tectonic forces, but the processes immediately preceding rupture are enigmatic. Monitoring of a remote oceanic fault that breaks regularly indicates that rupture is controlled by physical properties of the fault zone. Full Text | PDF See also: Letter by McGuire et al. Planetary science: Earth's ancient catastrophes p309 Tamara Goldin doi:10.1038/ngeo1467 Full Text | PDF Marine microbiology: Evolution on acid pp310 - 311 Sinéad Collins doi:10.1038/ngeo1461 The prediction of marine microbial responses to ocean acidification is a key challenge for marine biologists. Experimental evolution offers a powerful tool for understanding the forces that will shape tomorrow's microbial communities under global change. Full Text | PDF See also: Article by Lohbeck et al. Sherry Rowland: Ozone and advocacy p311 Paul Crutzen doi:10.1038/ngeo1462 Full Text | PDF Geoscience JOBS of the week 2 (Nachwuchs-) Wissenschaftler / innen Helmholtz Centre Potsdam - GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences - Helmholtz Association Professor in Human Geography University of Fribourg Professor of Transport Networks & Transport Infrastructure Delft University of Technology a project leader in remote sensing and ecophysiology (m / f) (Ref: EVA-260312-PLREMSENS) Centre de Recherche Public - Gabriel Lippmann Two Teaching Fellows in Geology Imperial College London More Science jobs from Geoscience EVENT 34th International Geological Congress 05.-10.08.12 UK More science events from Letters Top Response of the North Atlantic storm track to climate change shaped by ocean-atmosphere coupling pp313 - 317 T. Woollings, J. M. Gregory, J. G. Pinto, M. Reyers & D. J. Brayshaw doi:10.1038/ngeo1438 In contrast to those in other regions, the North Atlantic storm track responds to anthropogenic greenhouse-gas forcing by strengthening and extending farther east. A regression analysis of an ensemble of coupled climate model simulations shows that this response is, to a large part, shaped by the interaction between ocean and atmosphere. First paragraph | Full Text | PDF Atmospheric observations of Arctic Ocean methane emissions up to 82° north pp318 - 321 E. A. Kort, S. C. Wofsy, B. C. Daube, M. Diao, J. W. Elkins, R. S. Gao, E. J. Hintsa, D. F. Hurst, R. Jimenez, F. L. Moore, J. R. Spackman & M. A. Zondlo doi:10.1038/ngeo1452 Uncertainty in the future atmospheric burden of methane—a potent greenhouse gas—represents an important challenge to the development of realistic climate projections. Airborne observations of methane suggest that the remote Arctic Ocean could prove to be a potentially important methane source. First paragraph | Full Text | PDF Slight mass gain of Karakoram glaciers in the early twenty-first century pp322 - 325 Julie Gardelle, Etienne Berthier & Yves Arnaud doi:10.1038/ngeo1450 The mass balance of Hindu–Kush–Karakoram–Himalaya glaciers has been debated, partly because of a severe lack of observations from the region. An analysis of the regional mass balance of Karakoram glaciers by comparison of digital elevation models from 1999 to 2008 reveals a small glacier mass gain in the area. First paragraph | Full Text | PDF See also: News and Views by Cogley Terrestrial carbon isotope excursions and biotic change during Palaeogene hyperthermals pp326 - 329 Hemmo A. Abels, William C. Clyde, Philip D. Gingerich, Frederik J. Hilgen, Henry C. Fricke, Gabriel J. Bowen & Lucas J. Lourens doi:10.1038/ngeo1427 The Earth's climate between 60 and 50 million years ago was punctuated by several abrupt warming events, the largest of these being the Palaeocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum. Carbon isotope records from the Bighorn Basin, Wyoming, document these events in the terrestrial realm, and show a consistent scaling between marine and terrestrial records across the three main events. First paragraph | Full Text | PDF See also: News and Views by Secord Penetration of crustal melt beyond the Kunlun Fault into northern Tibet pp330 - 335 Florian Le Pape, Alan G. Jones, Jan Vozar & Wei Wenbo doi:10.1038/ngeo1449 The transition between the weak lithosphere of the Tibetan plateau and the surrounding rigid crustal blocks has a key role in the ongoing collision between India and Asia. A reanalysis of existing magnetotelluric data suggests that crustal melt penetrates north from the Tibetan plateau beyond the Kunlun Fault, and weakens the crust beneath the Kunlun Shan. First paragraph | Full Text | PDF Variations in earthquake rupture properties along the Gofar transform fault, East Pacific Rise pp336 - 341 Jeffrey J. McGuire, John A. Collins, Pierre Gouédard, Emily Roland, Dan Lizarralde, Margaret S. Boettcher, Mark D. Behn & Robert D. van der Hilst doi:10.1038/ngeo1454 Mid-ocean ridge transform faults experience more foreshocks than continental faults, yet the mainshock rarely ruptures the entire fault. Analysis of seismic data from the Gofar transform fault at the East Pacific Rise indicates that the foreshock region has different material properties from the mainshock region, and acts as a barrier to rupture propagation. First paragraph | Full Text | PDF See also: News and Views by Braunmiller Abrupt change in the dip of the subducting plate beneath north Chile pp342 - 345 E. Contreras-Reyes, J. Jara, I. Grevemeyer, S. Ruiz & D. Carrizo doi:10.1038/ngeo1447 The Chilean subduction zone, where the oceanic Nazca plate subducts beneath the continental South American plates, is a very active convergent margin. Wide-angle seismic refraction and reflection data, combined with records of aftershocks following the 2007 Tocopilla earthquake, document an abrupt change in the dip of the subducting plate from less than 10° to about 22°. First paragraph | Full Text | PDF Articles Top Adaptive evolution of a key phytoplankton species to ocean acidification pp346 - 351 Kai T. Lohbeck, Ulf Riebesell & Thorsten B. H. Reusch doi:10.1038/ngeo1441 Ocean acidification may seriously impair marine calcifying organisms. Emiliania huxleyi, the world's single most important calcifying organism, may be able to evolve in response to ocean acidification conditions, according to laboratory selection experiments. Abstract | Full Text | PDF See also: News and Views by Collins Pulses of carbon dioxide emissions from intracrustal faults following climatic warming pp352 - 358 Niko Kampman, Neil M. Burnside, Zoe K. Shipton, Hazel J. Chapman, Joe A. Nicholl, Rob M. Ellam & Mike J. Bickle doi:10.1038/ngeo1451 Carbon capture and geological storage represents a potential means of managing atmospheric carbon dioxide levels. An analysis of a 135,000 palaeorecord shows that pulses of carbon dioxide leakage from a natural reservoir in Utah are associated with episodes of glacial unloading. Abstract | Full Text | PDF A bistable organic-rich atmosphere on the Neoarchaean Earth pp359 - 363 Aubrey L. Zerkle, Mark W. Claire, Shawn D. Domagal-Goldman, James Farquhar & Simon W. Poulton doi:10.1038/ngeo1425 Before the rise of oxygen, the atmosphere of the early Earth may have consisted of an organic haze. Geochemical data and modelling suggest that from 2.65 to 2.5 Gyr ago, several transitions between hazy and haze-free atmospheric conditions occurred, potentially linked to variations in biogenic methane production. Abstract | Full Text | PDF Top Advertisement Take part in our 2012 Salary Survey! Your input will help us piece together international trends related to income, job benefits and career satisfaction - details that could help you and your colleagues make more informed career decisions. On completion you will have the chance to enter a prize draw for one of three £100/$150 (or equivalent) Amazon gift cards. Results to be published in July.   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

You have been sent this Table of Contents Alert because you have opted in to receive it. You can change or discontinue your e-mail alerts at any time, by modifying your preferences on your nature.com account at: www.nature.com/myaccount (You will need to log in to be recognised as a nature.com registrant) For further technical assistance, please contact our registration department For print subscription enquiries, please contact our subscription department For other enquiries, please contact our customer feedback department Nature Publishing Group | 75 Varick Street, 9th Floor | New York | NY 10013-1917 | USA Nature Publishing Group's worldwide offices: London - Paris - Munich - New Delhi - Tokyo - Melbourne San Diego - San Francisco - Washington - New York - Boston Macmillan Publishers Limited is a company incorporated in England and Wales under company number 785998 and whose registered office is located at Brunel Road, Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS. © 2012 Nature Publishing Group, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited. All Rights Reserved.