Nature Geoscience contents: June 2012 Volume 5 Number 6 pp365-432

TABLE OF CONTENTS June 2012 Volume 5, Issue 6 Editorial Correspondence In the press Research Highlights News and Views Review Letters Articles Subscribe   Facebook   RSS   Recommend to library   Twitter   Advertisement Links between viruses and prokaryotes throughout the water column along a North Atlantic latitudinal transect OPEN Daniele De Corte, Gerhard J Herndl and colleagues The ISME Journal ¦ doi:10.1038/ismej.2011.214   Editorial Top Flip sides of exploration p365 doi:10.1038/ngeo1497 Aerial photos taken during a 1930s expedition to the southeastern Greenland margin had been classified and lost to science. Their rediscovery highlights how closely geopolitical and scientific ambitions are linked in exploration. Full Text | PDF See also: News and Views by Smith | Article by Bjørk et al. Correspondence Top Inclusive geoscience instruction p366 Christopher Atchison & Jesus Martinez-Frias doi:10.1038/ngeo1487 Full Text | PDF In the press Top Heat, floods and special reports p367 Alexandra Witze doi:10.1038/ngeo1485 Full Text | PDF Research Highlights Top Atmospheric science: Low-level clouds | Tectonics: Slippery fractures | Palaeoceanography: North to south | Planetary science: Smoothed by dust News and Views Top Glaciology: Repeat warming in Greenland pp369 - 370 Benjamin E. Smith doi:10.1038/ngeo1488 Greenland's glaciers have lost significant amounts of ice over the past decade. Rediscovered historical images of the ice margin show a record of southeast Greenland's response to the last major warming event in the 1930s. Full Text | PDF See also: Article by Bjørk et al. | Editorial Cryospheric science: Vulnerable ice in the Weddell Sea pp370 - 371 Angelika Humbert doi:10.1038/ngeo1484 Of the West Antarctic ice shelves, those in the Amundsen Sea sector have given the most cause for concern. Ocean modelling of the Weddell Sea region, together with a detailed survey of the ice bed morphology, indicates that this region, too, may change soon. Full Text | PDF See also: Letter by Ross et al. Earthquakes: Casting stress shadows pp371 - 372 Andrew M. Freed doi:10.1038/ngeo1489 Earthquakes may trigger or retard quakes on nearby faults, but such relationships are difficult to verify. Observations showing that the Landers earthquake in California shut down aftershocks from a preceding event validate such relationships. Full Text | PDF See also: Letter by Toda et al. Climate science: Methane uncovered pp373 - 374 Giuseppe Etiope doi:10.1038/ngeo1483 Methane emissions from natural gas reservoirs have long been largely overlooked. The discovery of abundant geological gas seeps in areas of cryosphere degradation highlights the relevance of these emissions to the greenhouse gas budget. Full Text | PDF See also: Article by Walter Anthony et al. Eocene climate: Summer rains p374 Alicia Newton doi:10.1038/ngeo1491 Full Text | PDF Geoscience JOBS of the week Associate Professor in Quaternary and Glacial Geology Aarhus University, The Department of Geoscience 2 (Nachwuchs-) Wissenschaftler / innen Helmholtz Centre Potsdam - GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences - Helmholtz Association Post doctoral research scientist "Earth surface processes and paleoclimate dynamics" Biodiversity an Climate Research Centre BiK-F Numerical modelling of: debris flow impacts on reinforced protective embankment, of geosynthetics encased soil columns and of reinforced earth structures geosynthetics Università Mediterranea More Science jobs from Geoscience EVENT 34th International Geological Congress 05 August - 10 August 2012 UK More science events from Review Top The timing and pattern of biotic recovery following the end-Permian mass extinction pp375 - 383 Zhong-Qiang Chen & Michael J. Benton doi:10.1038/ngeo1475 Over 90% of species were lost during the end-Permian mass extinction. A review of the fossil record shows that the rate of recovery was highly variable between different groups of organisms as a result of complex biotic interactions and repeated environmental perturbations. Abstract | Full Text | PDF Letters Top Asymmetric crustal growth on the Moon indicated by primitive farside highland materials pp384 - 388 Makiko Ohtake, Hiroshi Takeda, Tsuneo Matsunaga, Yasuhiro Yokota, Junichi Haruyama, Tomokatsu Morota, Satoru Yamamoto, Yoshiko Ogawa, Takahiro Hiroi, Yuzuru Karouji, Kazuto Saiki & Paul G. Lucey doi:10.1038/ngeo1458 The origin of the dichotomy between the lunar nearside and farside is unclear. Analysis of spectral reflectance data from the Kaguya lunar orbiter indicates a systematic difference in the degree of differentiation in the oldest lunar crustal terrains, linking the lunar dichotomy to crystallization of the magma ocean. First paragraph | Full Text | PDF Model estimates of sea-level change due to anthropogenic impacts on terrestrial water storage pp389 - 392 Yadu N. Pokhrel, Naota Hanasaki, Pat J-F. Yeh, Tomohito J. Yamada, Shinjiro Kanae & Taikan Oki doi:10.1038/ngeo1476 Changes in terrestrial water storage are likely to affect sea level, but comprehensive and reliable data are scarce. Simulations of global terrestrial water stocks and flows, with an integrated model that specifically accounts for human activities, indicate that groundwater depletion and reservoir storage have together led to a sea-level rise of about 0.66 mm yr-1 between 1961 and 2003, about 36% of the observed rise. First paragraph | Full Text | PDF Steep reverse bed slope at the grounding line of the Weddell Sea sector in West Antarctica pp393 - 396 Neil Ross, Robert G. Bingham, Hugh F. J. Corr, Fausto Ferraccioli, Tom A. Jordan, Anne Le Brocq, David M. Rippin, Duncan Young, Donald D. Blankenship & Martin J. Siegert doi:10.1038/ngeo1468 The bed of the West Antarctic ice sheet is, in places, more than 1.5 km below sea level. Radio-echo sounding data from the Weddell Sea sector of Antarctica reveal a large subglacial basin immediately upstream of the ice sheet's grounding line, with a steep reverse gradient and a smooth floor. First paragraph | Full Text | PDF See also: News and Views by Humbert Regional atmospheric circulation shifts induced by a grand solar minimum pp397 - 401 Celia Martin-Puertas, Katja Matthes, Achim Brauer, Raimund Muscheler, Felicitas Hansen, Christof Petrick, Ala Aldahan, Goran Possnert & Bas van Geel doi:10.1038/ngeo1460 Changes in solar emissions can be amplified in atmospheric circulation patterns and lead to climate changes. Proxy data from lake sediments and long-term climate models support such a top-down mechanism of Late Holocene cooling induced by a concurrent grand solar minimum. First paragraph | Full Text | PDF Caldera size modulated by the yield stress within a crystal-rich magma reservoir pp402 - 405 Leif Karlstrom, Maxwell L. Rudolph & Michael Manga doi:10.1038/ngeo1453 The size of the caldera formed when the surface collapses after a large volcanic eruption is thought to reflect the size of the evacuated magma chamber. Numerical modelling shows that magma stored in different parts of the chamber can be mobile or locked, so caldera size may only correspond to the volume of evacuated mobile magma. First paragraph | Full Text | PDF Volcanism in the Afar Rift sustained by decompression melting with minimal plume influence pp406 - 409 Catherine A. Rychert, James O. S. Hammond, Nicholas Harmon, J. Michael Kendall, Derek Keir, Cynthia Ebinger, Ian D. Bastow, Atalay Ayele, Manahloh Belachew & Graham Stuart doi:10.1038/ngeo1455 Continental breakup and volcanism in Afar, Africa, has been linked to mantle plume activity. Seismic imaging of the mantle beneath Afar, however, identifies an increase in seismic velocities at shallow depths that is consistent with decompression melting and magmatism in the absence of strong plume activity today. First paragraph | Full Text | PDF Aftershocks halted by static stress shadows pp410 - 413 Shinji Toda, Ross S. Stein, Gregory C. Beroza & David Marsan doi:10.1038/ngeo1465 The role of permanent versus transient crustal stress changes in triggering earthquakes is debated. Analysis of the stress imparted by the Joshua Tree and nearby Landers earthquakes in California in 1992 implies that a permanent drop in stress can halt aftershocks, so such static stress changes should be incorporated into seismic-hazard assessments. First paragraph | Full Text | PDF See also: News and Views by Freed Tsunamigenic potential of the shallow subduction plate boundary inferred from slow seismic slip pp414 - 418 Hiroko Sugioka, Taro Okamoto, Takeshi Nakamura, Yasushi Ishihara, Aki Ito, Koichiro Obana, Masataka Kinoshita, Kazuo Nakahigashi, Masanao Shinohara & Yoshio Fukao doi:10.1038/ngeo1466 At subduction zones, slip along the shallowest parts of the plate boundary is generally thought to be aseismic. Observations of very-low-frequency earthquakes occurring at shallow levels on the plate boundary of the Nankai Trough subduction zone imply that slow but seismic slip can occur there, and could potentially generate tsunamigenic earthquakes. First paragraph | Full Text | PDF Articles Top Geologic methane seeps along boundaries of Arctic permafrost thaw and melting glaciers pp419 - 426 Katey M. Walter Anthony, Peter Anthony, Guido Grosse & Jeffrey Chanton doi:10.1038/ngeo1480 In the Arctic, permafrost and glaciers form a 'cryosphere cap' that traps methane leaking from hydrocarbon reservoirs, restricting flow to the atmosphere. Aerial surveys and ground-based measurements reveal the release of radiocarbon-depleted methane along boundaries of permafrost thaw and retreating glaciers in Alaska and Greenland. Abstract | Full Text | PDF See also: News and Views by Etiope An aerial view of 80 years of climate-related glacier fluctuations in southeast Greenland pp427 - 432 Anders A. Bjørk, Kurt H. Kjaer, Niels J. Korsgaard, Shfaqat A. Khan, Kristian K. Kjeldsen, Camilla S. Andresen, Jason E. Box, Nicolaj K. Larsen & Svend Funder doi:10.1038/ngeo1481 Both marine- and land-terminating glaciers in southeast Greenland have experienced dramatic recent retreat. An 80-year record of historical aerial photographs and satellite imagery shows that many land-terminating glaciers in this region retreated more rapidly in the 1930s than today, whereas marine-terminating glaciers have retreated faster in the 2000s. Abstract | Full Text | PDF See also: News and Views by Smith | Editorial Top Advertisement The Arab world has a rich history of scientific breakthroughs. 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