Nature Geoscience contents: September 2012 Volume 5 Number 9 pp585-674

TABLE OF CONTENTS September 2012 Volume 5, Issue 9 Editorials Commentary In the press Research Highlights News and Views Progress Article Review Letters Articles Corrigendum Subscribe   Facebook   RSS   Recommend to library   Twitter   Advertisement Nature Insight: Chemistry and Energy This Insight focuses on the developments in solar energy, water-based methods of electricity generation and the production of biofuels. Access the Insight free online for two months. Produced with support from: TOTAL   Editorials Top Stop-and-go deglaciation   p585 doi:10.1038/ngeo1574 Past transitions from glacial to interglacial climates have not been smooth. It would be wise to prepare for similarly sudden episodes of ice loss in future climate changes. Feedback received   p585 doi:10.1038/ngeo1575 In response to a survey conducted in June, 886 of our readers have told us what they think about Nature Geoscience. We look forward to acting on the responses. Commentary Top Earth science for sustainability   pp587 - 588 Peter Schlosser & Stephanie Pfirman doi:10.1038/ngeo1567 Human activities increasingly lead to climate change, overuse of water, hazards and the destruction of biodiversity — to name just a few. Earth scientists need to take on the challenge of serving society on these issues, in close collaboration with engineering, social sciences and the humanities. In the press Top Trees and temperature   p589 Mark Schrope doi:10.1038/ngeo1565 Research Highlights Top Economic geology: Gold from destruction | Climate science: Dry heat | Oceanography: Tasman eddy express | Planetary science: Cosmic rain News and Views Top Planetary science: Ubiquitous late veneer   pp591 - 592 James Brenan doi:10.1038/ngeo1551 Iron-loving elements are thought to have been added to Mars, Earth and the Moon after core formation. An analysis of meteorites formed in the first two to three million years of Solar System history suggests that a similar late veneer was added elsewhere too. See also: Letter by Day et al. Hydrology: Supply and demand   p592 Anna Armstrong doi:10.1038/ngeo1569 Palaeontology: Slowed by sulphide   pp593 - 594 Katja Meyer doi:10.1038/ngeo1566 The Triassic-Jurassic period extinction marked a rapid turnover in the marine realm. Biomarkers in marine rocks suggest that the development of sulphidic conditions in the early Jurassic delayed marine recovery. See also: Article by Richoz et al. Palaeoceanography: Pacific and Atlantic synchronized   pp594 - 596 Samuel L. Jaccard doi:10.1038/ngeo1563 Deep convection does not normally occur in the modern North Pacific Ocean, but that may have changed during the last deglaciation. Sea ice and surface temperature reconstructions show that if so, it was not associated with significant northward heat transport. Anthropology: Ice-free emigration   p596 Alicia Newton doi:10.1038/ngeo1570 Tectonics: Reanimating eastern Tibet   pp597 - 598 Michael E. Oskin doi:10.1038/ngeo1564 The high eastern Tibetan Plateau was thought to have formed from an inflow of material from the lower crust. The cooling histories of rocks exposed at the plateau margin, however, reveal protracted, episodic growth, suggesting that faulting also played a role. Archaean biogeochemistry: Unexpectedly abiotic   pp598 - 599 Boswell Wing doi:10.1038/ngeo1561 Sulphur cycling on early Earth is commonly linked to microbial activity. However, sulphur isotope values from 3.2–3.5-billion-year-old rocks indicate a central role for the breakdown of volcanic sulphur dioxide by ultraviolet radiation instead. See also: Article by Philippot et al. Geoscience JOBS of the week Academic Positions in Synchrotron Geoscience Monash University GeoEnergy Senior Lecturer University of Edinburgh - School of GeoSciences Researcher - Graduate School Human Development in Landscapes Kiel University Researcher - GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences Helmholtz Association Postdoctoral Fellow – Environmental Science ExxonMobil More Science jobs from Geoscience EVENT AGU Chapman Conference on The Agulhas System and its Role in Changing Ocean 08.-12.10.12 Cape Town, South Africa More science events from Progress Article Top Links between early Holocene ice-sheet decay, sea-level rise and abrupt climate change   pp601 - 606 Torbjörn E. Törnqvist & Marc P. Hijma doi:10.1038/ngeo1536 The beginning of the Holocene interglacial was marked by ice-sheet melting and sea-level rise. A review of sea level and climate records identifies two sea-level jumps associated with the final drainage of glacial Lake Agassiz, and links them to an abrupt cooling event. Review Top Northern Hemisphere ice-sheet responses to past climate warming   pp607 - 613 Anders E. Carlson & Kelsey Winsor doi:10.1038/ngeo1528 During periods of glaciation, the Northern Hemisphere was swathed by large ice sheets. A review of ice-sheet retreat during the last two deglaciations shows that land-based ice sheets responded rapidly to rising summer insolation, whereas marine-based ice sheets underwent a delayed, but more abrupt, response. Letters Top Late accretion as a natural consequence of planetary growth   pp614 - 617 James M. D. Day, Richard J. Walker, Liping Qin & Douglas Rumble III doi:10.1038/ngeo1527 The mantles of the terrestrial planets contain elemental abundances that suggest accretion continued at a late stage, after core formation. Geochemical data of meteorites from differentiated asteroids are consistent with such a late accretion event, suggesting that the phenomenon occurred throughout the Solar System and was related to planet formation. See also: News and Views by Brenan Continuous flux of dissolved black carbon from a vanished tropical forest biome   pp618 - 622 Thorsten Dittmar, Carlos Eduardo de Rezende, Marcus Manecki, Jutta Niggemann, Alvaro Ramon Coelho Ovalle, Aron Stubbins & Marcelo Correa Bernardes doi:10.1038/ngeo1541 Before it was destroyed by slash and burn practices, Brazil's Atlantic Forest was one of the largest tropical forest biomes on Earth. Measurements from a river draining the region suggest that significant quantities of black carbon generated by the burning continue to be exported from the former forest. Motion of an Antarctic glacier by repeated tidally modulated earthquakes   pp623 - 626 Lucas K. Zoet, Sridhar Anandakrishnan, Richard B. Alley, Andrew A. Nyblade & Douglas A. Wiens doi:10.1038/ngeo1555 Subglacial seismicity reveals information about glacier behaviour. Analysis of repeated seismic events beneath an Antarctic outlet glacier is consistent with sliding of debris-laden ice over a bedrock asperity with an event frequency that is modulated by the ocean tides. Regional climate control of glaciers in New Zealand and Europe during the pre-industrial Holocene   pp627 - 630 Aaron E. Putnam, Joerg M. Schaefer, George H. Denton, David J. A. Barrell, Robert C. Finkel, Bjørn G. Andersen, Roseanne Schwartz, Trevor J. H. Chinn & Alice M. Doughty doi:10.1038/ngeo1548 Glacier snowlines in both the European Alps and the Southern Alps of New Zealand have retreated over the past century. An analysis of glacier fluctuations in New Zealand over the past 11,000 years suggests that this synchronous behaviour is unique to the past few hundred years. Deep Arctic Ocean warming during the last glacial cycle   pp631 - 634 T. M. Cronin, G. S. Dwyer, J. Farmer, H. A. Bauch, R. F. Spielhagen, M. Jakobsson, J. Nilsson, W. M. Briggs, Jr & A. Stepanova doi:10.1038/ngeo1557 In the Arctic Ocean, a salinity gradient separates a shallow layer of cold, relatively fresh water from the warmer, saltier Atlantic water below. A reconstruction of intermediate water temperatures in the Arctic during the last glacial period shows the presence of relatively warm water that may reflect a deepening of the halocline. Bimodal Plio–Quaternary glacial erosion of fjords and low-relief surfaces in Scandinavia   pp635 - 639 Philippe Steer, Ritske S. Huismans, Pierre G. Valla, Sebastien Gac & Frederic Herman doi:10.1038/ngeo1549 Glacial landscapes exhibit both high- and low-relief land surfaces. A comparison of fjord erosion and offshore deposition suggests that glacier erosion created both the dramatic fjords and high-elevation low-relief surfaces in western Scandanavia. Two-phase growth of high topography in eastern Tibet during the Cenozoic   pp640 - 645 E. Wang, E. Kirby, K. P. Furlong, M. van Soest, G. Xu, X. Shi, P. J. J. Kamp & K. V. Hodges doi:10.1038/ngeo1538 High topography in eastern Tibet is thought to have formed in response to weak lower crust flowing towards the plateau margin. Thermochronologic analyses of rocks exposed at the eastern plateau margin record periods of mountain growth early in the Indo-Asian collision, implying that crustal flow alone could not have created the high topography. Coseismic fault rupture at the trench axis during the 2011 Tohoku-oki earthquake   pp646 - 650 Shuichi Kodaira, Tetsuo No, Yasuyuki Nakamura, Toshiya Fujiwara, Yuka Kaiho, Seiichi Miura, Narumi Takahashi, Yoshiyuki Kaneda & Asahiko Taira doi:10.1038/ngeo1547 Subduction zone models often assume that the shallowest part of the plate interface slips aseismically. Images of the subduction trench next to the Tohoku-oki epicentre, captured using seismic reflection data 11 days after the 2011 earthquake, reveal deformation structures in sediments next to the trench, indicating that fault slip did reach the sea floor. Lower crustal crystallization and melt evolution at mid-ocean ridges   pp651 - 655 V. D. Wanless and A. M. Shaw doi:10.1038/ngeo1552 Oceanic crust is formed at mid-ocean ridges, but there is little consensus on where crystallization of melt actually occurs within the crust or mantle. Geochemical analyses of melt inclusions from two Pacific Ocean mid-ocean ridges indicate that 25% of the melt crystallizes below the melt lens to form the lower oceanic crust. Articles Top Groundwater arsenic concentrations in Vietnam controlled by sediment age   pp656 - 661 Dieke Postma, Flemming Larsen, Nguyen Thi Thai, Pham Thi Kim Trang, Rasmus Jakobsen, Pham Quy Nhan, Tran Vu Long, Pham Hung Viet & Andrew S. Murray doi:10.1038/ngeo1540 Arsenic contamination of groundwater threatens the health of millions of people in southeast Asia. Measurements in an arsenic-contaminated aquifer in Vietnam point to sediment age as a key determinant of groundwater arsenic concentrations. Hydrogen sulphide poisoning of shallow seas following the end-Triassic extinction   pp662 - 667 Sylvain Richoz, Bas van de Schootbrugge, Jörg Pross, Wilhelm Püttmann, Tracy M. Quan, Sofie Lindström, Carmen Heunisch, Jens Fiebig, Robert Maquil, Stefan Schouten, Christoph A. Hauzenberger & Paul B. Wignall doi:10.1038/ngeo1539 The end of the Triassic period was marked by a mass extinction. Biomarkers in black shales that formed at the time suggest that the repeated poisoning of shallow seas by hydrogen sulphide delayed the early Jurassic recovery. See also: News and Views by Meyer Variations in atmospheric sulphur chemistry on early Earth linked to volcanic activity   pp668 - 674 Pascal Philippot, Mark van Zuilen and Claire Rollion-Bard doi:10.1038/ngeo1534 The nature of the atmospheric sulphur cycle on the early Earth has been difficult to reconstruct. An analysis of sulphur isotopes from 3.2-billion-year-old volcanic rocks suggests that episodic volcanism released pulses of sulphur dioxide that was then broken down by ultraviolet photodissociation. See also: News and Views by Wing Corrigendum Top Possible links between long-term geomagnetic variations and whole-mantle convection processes   p674 A. J. Biggin, B. Steinberger, J. Aubert, N. Suttie, R. Holme, T. H. Torsvik, D. G. van der Meer & D. J. J. van Hinsbergen doi:10.1038/ngeo1558 See also: Review by Biggin et al. Top Advertisement Nature Geoscience - New Impact Factor The 2011 ISI impact factor for Nature Geoscience is 11.754*, according to the ISI Journal Citation Reports®. This places Nature Geoscience first among all primary research journals in multi-disciplinary geosciences. *2011 Journal Citation Reports® (Thomson Reuters, 2012)   Natureevents is a fully searchable, multi-disciplinary database designed to maximise exposure for events organisers. 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