Nature Geoscience contents: July 2015 Volume 8 Number 7 pp491-574

If you are unable to see the message below, click here to view.

TABLE OF CONTENTS July 2015 Volume 8, Issue 7 Editorial Correspondence Commentary News and Views Perspective Review Letters Articles Erratum Subscribe   Facebook   RSS   Recommend to library   Twitter   Advertisement Nature has once again been ranked as the No.1 interdisciplinary science journal with an impact factor score of 41.456*. Stay up to date with the very latest news and research in your field and subscribe for one year at our special offer price of $41, £41 or €41!   Advertisement Nature Outlook: Bees The world of bees is fascinating and varied. The common honeybee is the most well-known and well-studied species, but there are thousands of wild bee species that enliven our landscapes and help to pollinate crops and wildflowers. The widely reported threats to honeybees also jeopardize the lives of these under-appreciated bee species.  Access the Outlook free online for six months.  Produced with support from: Bayer CropScience     Editorial Top Globalize geoscience   p491 doi:10.1038/ngeo2485 Developing countries lag far behind, in terms of scientific — including geoscience — output. Failing to spread the know-how means that the world is missing out on great intellectual potential. Correspondence Top Initiation of the Lusi mudflow disaster   pp493 - 494 M. R. P. Tingay, M. L. Rudolph, M. Manga, R. J. Davies & Chi-Yuen Wang doi:10.1038/ngeo2472 Diverting lava flows in the lab   pp494 - 496 Hannah R. Dietterich, Katharine V. Cashman, Alison C. Rust & Einat Lev doi:10.1038/ngeo2470 Commentary Top To build capacity, build confidence   pp497 - 499 Bruce Hewitson doi:10.1038/ngeo2465 The history of attempts to spread scientific know-how beyond western centres of excellence is littered with failures. Capacity building needs long-term commitment, a critical mass of trainees, and a supportive home environment. News and Views Top Earthquakes: The rise and fall of an island   pp501 - 502 Aron J. Meltzner doi:10.1038/ngeo2477 Earth's crust was thought to deform uniformly over most of the seismic cycle. Analysis of two centuries of nautical surveys from Chile reveals temporal variability that complicates our view of time-dependent seismic hazards. See also: Letter by Wesson et al. Tectonics: Continental complexity   p502 Amy Whitchurch doi:10.1038/ngeo2479 Planetary science: Stirring up Saturn's poles   pp503 - 504 Leigh N. Fletcher doi:10.1038/ngeo2471 Saturn's poles exhibit giant swirling cyclones, whereas Jupiter's poles may not. Simulations of giant planet atmospheres suggest that just the right balance of convective storm energy and poleward drift of cyclones may explain Saturn's vortices. See also: Letter by O'Neill et al. Marine biogeochemistry: A tropical hotspot   pp504 - 505 Imke Grefe doi:10.1038/ngeo2473 The ocean is an important source of the potent greenhouse gas N2O. Measurements in the tropical South Pacific have revealed a massive efflux of N2O from the coastal upwelling zone. See also: Letter by Arévalo-Martínez et al. Geochemistry: Rise of the continents   pp506 - 507 Cin-Ty A. Lee & N. Ryan McKenzie doi:10.1038/ngeo2476 The continents are archives of Earth's evolution. Analysis of the isotopic signature of continental crust globally suggests that buoyant, silicic continents began to form 3 billion years ago, possibly linked to the onset of plate tectonics. See also: Letter by Dhuime et al. Perspective Top Mechanisms and geologic significance of the mid-lithosphere discontinuity in the continents   pp509 - 514 Shun-ichiro Karato, Tolulope Olugboji & Jeffrey Park doi:10.1038/ngeo2462 The continents have a puzzling structure — a transition occurs at mid-lithospheric depths. A synthesis of geological data indicates that stress-induced sliding along crystal grain boundaries may be responsible forforthe transition. Review Top Nitrogen isotope variations in the Solar System   pp515 - 522 Evelyn Füri & Bernard Marty doi:10.1038/ngeo2451 The solar wind, cometary ices, and inner Solar System bodies exhibit distinct nitrogen isotopic compositions. A synthesis of these analyses suggests that these distinct reservoirs may be the result of early fractionation processes. Letters Top Polar vortex formation in giant-planet atmospheres due to moist convection   pp523 - 526 Morgan E O'Neill, Kerry A. Emanuel & Glenn R. Flierl doi:10.1038/ngeo2459 Strong vortices have been observed at Saturn's poles. Simulations suggest that tropospheric polar flows on giant planets are driven by moist convection, and that, while vortices can develop on Saturn, similar cyclones are not expected on Jupiter. See also: News and Views by Fletcher Steeper temporal distribution of rain intensity at higher temperatures within Australian storms   pp527 - 529 Conrad Wasko & Ashish Sharma doi:10.1038/ngeo2456 The response of rain and storm dynamics to climate warming is unclear. An analysis of high-resolution rainfall records from 79 Australian stations suggests that rain intensity rises and falls more steeply within a storm at warmer temperatures. Massive nitrous oxide emissions from the tropical South Pacific Ocean   pp530 - 533 D. L. Arévalo-Martínez, A. Kock, C. R. Löscher, R. A. Schmitz & H. W. Bange doi:10.1038/ngeo2469 Oceans emit a third of the natural emissions of nitrous oxide. High-resolution measurements suggest that the Peruvian coast is a hotspot of nitrous oxide fluxes, representing 5–22% of global ocean emissions from previous estimates. See also: News and Views by Grefe Laurentide ice-sheet instability during the last deglaciation   pp534 - 537 David J. Ullman, Anders E. Carlson, Faron S. Anslow, Allegra N. LeGrande & Joseph M. Licciardi doi:10.1038/ngeo2463 The factors leading to the full retreat of ice sheets during deglaciation are debated. Numerical modelling suggests that the Laurentide ice sheet retreated only after a threshold for warming and radiative forcing was passed in the Holocene. Stable runoff and weathering fluxes into the oceans over Quaternary climate cycles   pp538 - 542 Friedhelm von Blanckenburg, Julien Bouchez, Daniel E. Ibarra & Kate Maher doi:10.1038/ngeo2452 The effect of glacial–interglacial cycles on surface weathering rates has been unclear. A beryllium-based proxy for weathering shows minimal variations in the input of silicate weathering products to the oceans for the past two million years. Negligible effect of hydrogen content on plate strength in East Africa   pp543 - 546 Kate Selway doi:10.1038/ngeo2453 Continental rifting is thought to occur in particularly hydrous plates. Magnetotelluric images of the East African Rift, however, reveal that the rift is anhydrous, implying that hydrogen content is not a primary control on plate strength. Vertical deformation through a complete seismic cycle at Isla Santa María, Chile   pp547 - 551 Robert L. Wesson, Daniel Melnick, Marco Cisternas, Marcos Moreno & Lisa L. Ely doi:10.1038/ngeo2468 Records of complete earthquake cycles are rare. Analysis of historical nautical charts and modern GPS data that record a full earthquake cycle in Chile show that great earthquakes can create small amounts of permanent uplift. See also: News and Views by Meltzner Emergence of modern continental crust about 3 billion years ago   pp552 - 555 Bruno Dhuime, Andreas Wuestefeld & Chris J. Hawkesworth doi:10.1038/ngeo2466 The continental crust provides a record of Earth's evolution. Analysis of the geochemical signature of continental crust formed since the Hadean points to the initiation of plate tectonics about 3 billion years ago. See also: News and Views by Lee & McKenzie Computational support for a pyrolitic lower mantle containing ferric iron   pp556 - 559 Xianlong Wang, Taku Tsuchiya & Atsushi Hase doi:10.1038/ngeo2458 The composition of the Earth's lower mantle is not well constrained. First-principles calculations support a pyrolitic composition containing ferric iron, suggesting that the upper and lower mantles are geochemically uniform. Articles Top Tug of war on summertime circulation between radiative forcing and sea surface warming   pp560 - 566 T. A. Shaw & A. Voigt doi:10.1038/ngeo2449 The climate-model mean response of the summertime mid-latitude circulation to global warming is weak. Model experiments reveal that a tug of war between the influences of radiative forcing and surface warming is the reason. Landscape biogeochemistry reflected in shifting distributions of chemical traits in the Amazon forest canopy   pp567 - 573 Gregory P. Asner, Christopher B. Anderson, Roberta E. Martin, Raul Tupayachi, David E. Knapp et al. doi:10.1038/ngeo2443 The controls on plant functional diversity are unclear. Analysis of spectral data from the tree canopy in the Amazonian lowlands implies that plant functional traits are influenced by nutrient supply, which in turn varies with topography. Erratum Top Erratum: Links between atmospheric carbon dioxide, the land carbon reservoir and climate over the past millennium   p574 Thomas K. Bauska, Fortunat Joos, Alan C. Mix, Raphael Roth, Jinho Ahn et al. doi:10.1038/ngeo2480 Top 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. © 2015 Nature Publishing Group, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited. All Rights Reserved.