Nature Geoscience contents: January 2015 Volume 8 Number 1 pp1-79

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TABLE OF CONTENTS January 2015 Volume 8, Issue 1 Editorial Books and Arts News and Views Progress Article Letters Articles Subscribe   Facebook   RSS   Recommend to library   Twitter   Editorial Top Russia's scientific legacy   p1 doi:10.1038/ngeo2340 Many insights of Russian scientists are unknown or long-forgotten outside of Russia. Making the Russian literature accessible to the international scientific community could stimulate new lines of research. Books and Arts Top Life on Earth   p2 Philip D. Gingerich reviews A History of Life in 100 Fossils By Paul D. Taylor and Aaron O'Dea doi:10.1038/ngeo2332 Exhibition: Legends of the Arctic   p3 doi:10.1038/ngeo2333 News and Views Top Climate change ecology: Tropical languor   pp4 - 5 Lucas A. Cernusak doi:10.1038/ngeo2328 Carbon dioxide can stimulate photosynthesis in trees and increase their growth rates. A study of tree rings from three seasonal tropical forests shows no evidence of faster growth during 150 years of increasing atmospheric CO2 concentrations. See also: Letter by van der Sleen et al. Air quality: Night-time sinks, daytime sources   pp5 - 7 Jonathan Raff doi:10.1038/ngeo2315 Nitrous acid can initiate photochemical air pollution events, but it is not clear where it comes from. Laboratory experiments now suggest that surface-bound nitrite accumulated overnight can release nitrous acid during the daytime. See also: Article by VandenBoer et al. Palaeoclimate: Carbon feedbacks on repeat?   pp7 - 8 Stephen Grimes doi:10.1038/ngeo2337 A period of rapid warming about 55.5 million years ago was triggered by a massive release of carbon. The carbon isotope composition of soil nodules provides evidence for a smaller, but still important, carbon release prior to the main event. See also: Letter by Bowen et al. Volcanology: Fire meets ice   p8 Jo Hellawell doi:10.1038/ngeo2338 Deep water cycle: Mantle hydration   pp9 - 10 Masayuki Nishi doi:10.1038/ngeo2326 The fate of water that enters the mantle within subducting slabs is unclear. Laboratory experiments indicate that subducted crust can transport large amounts of water into the deep Earth, and the lower mantle may become more hydrated over time. See also: Article by Pamato et al. Geoscience JOBS of the week Professor / Associate Professor of Geology University of the Western Cape PhD position in the field of glacier retreat and sediment production ETH Zurich More Science jobs from Geoscience EVENT 4th Annual International Conference on Geological and Earth Sciences (GEOS 2015) 05.10.15 Singapore More science events from Progress Article Top Global vulnerability of peatlands to fire and carbon loss   pp11 - 14 Merritt R. Turetsky, Brian Benscoter, Susan Page, Guillermo Rein, Guido R. van der Werf et al. doi:10.1038/ngeo2325 The amount of carbon stored in peats exceeds that stored in vegetation. A synthesis of the literature suggests that smouldering fires in peatlands could become more common as the climate warms, and release old carbon to the air. Letters Top Sand dune patterns on Titan controlled by long-term climate cycles   pp15 - 19 Ryan C. Ewing, Alex G. Hayes & Antoine Lucas doi:10.1038/ngeo2323 Linear sand dunes on equatorial Titan are shaped by winds. The morphologies of smaller dunes that have been reoriented with respect to the linear dune crests suggest that winds shift with long-term orbitally driven climate cycles on Titan. Net regional methane sink in High Arctic soils of northeast Greenland   pp20 - 23 Christian Juncher Jørgensen, Katrine Maria Lund Johansen, Andreas Westergaard-Nielsen & Bo Elberling doi:10.1038/ngeo2305 High Arctic soils can act as sources or sinks of methane. Scaled-up field measurements suggest that northeast Greenland's ice-free soils currently act as a net sink for methane, and may take up more methane with rising temperatures. No growth stimulation of tropical trees by 150 years of CO2 fertilization but water-use efficiency increased   pp24 - 28 Peter van der Sleen, Peter Groenendijk, Mart Vlam, Niels P. R. Anten, Arnoud Boom et al. doi:10.1038/ngeo2313 Increasing CO2 concentrations are expected to increase plant growth and water efficiency. Tree-ring data covering 150 years from tropical forests show that water-use efficiency has increased with CO2 concentrations but tree growth has not. See also: News and Views by Cernusak Sensitivity of climate to cumulative carbon emissions due to compensation of ocean heat and carbon uptake   pp29 - 34 Philip Goodwin, Richard G. Williams & Andy Ridgwell doi:10.1038/ngeo2304 Transient global warming is nearly proportional to cumulative carbon emissions. A theoretically derived equation shows that this relationship stems from the partially opposing climate effects of oceanic uptake of heat and carbon. Continental degassing of 4He by surficial discharge of deep groundwater   pp35 - 39 Pradeep K. Aggarwal, Takuya Matsumoto, Neil C. Sturchio, Hung K. Chang, Didier Gastmans et al. doi:10.1038/ngeo2302 Helium-4 is produced in the Earth's crust and degassed to the atmosphere. Measurements of 4He and 81Kr dating in an aquifer in Brazil suggest that most crustal 4He reaches the atmosphere by the discharge of deep groundwater at the surface. Glacial-interglacial changes in bottom-water oxygen content on the Portuguese margin   pp40 - 43 Babette A. A. Hoogakker, Henry Elderfield, Gerhard Schmiedl, I. Nick McCave & Rosalind E. M. Rickaby doi:10.1038/ngeo2317 Some of the glacial CO2 drawdown has been attributed to CO2 storage in the deep Pacific and Southern oceans. Reconstruction of apparent oxygen utilization suggests that respired CO2 storage was also enhanced in the deep northeast Atlantic. Two massive, rapid releases of carbon during the onset of the Palaeocene–Eocene thermal maximum   pp44 - 47 Gabriel J. Bowen, Bianca J. Maibauer, Mary J. Kraus, Ursula Röhl, Thomas Westerhold et al. doi:10.1038/ngeo2316 The release of massive amounts of carbon led to abrupt warming 55.5 million years ago. An analysis of soil carbonates shows two distinct carbon injections at the event onset, each releasing over 0.9 petagrams of carbon per year over hundreds to thousands of years. See also: News and Views by Grimes Articles Top Significant contribution of combustion-related emissions to the atmospheric phosphorus budget   pp48 - 54 Rong Wang, Yves Balkanski, Olivier Boucher, Philippe Ciais, Josep Peñuelas et al. doi:10.1038/ngeo2324 Atmospheric phosphorus contributes to terrestrial biogeochemical cycles. Estimates of phosphorus emissions from combustion suggest that anthropogenic emissions represent more than 50% of atmospheric sources of phosphorus. Nocturnal loss and daytime source of nitrous acid through reactive uptake and displacement   pp55 - 60 Trevor C. VandenBoer, Cora J. Young, Ranajit K. Talukdar, Milos Z. Markovic, Steven S. Brown et al. doi:10.1038/ngeo2298 Nitrous acid cycling contributes significantly to the atmospheric oxidation capacity. Flow tube experiments and field monitoring reveal a night-time nitrous acid sink in soils, and subsequent release during the day. See also: News and Views by Raff Thick and deformed Antarctic sea ice mapped with autonomous underwater vehicles   pp61 - 67 G. Williams, T. Maksym, J. Wilkinson, C. Kunz, C. Murphy et al. doi:10.1038/ngeo2299 In situ measurements of sea-ice thickness off Antarctica have limited spatial coverage. Surveys of ten floes by autonomous underwater vehicles suggest that Antarctic sea ice is thicker and more deformed than previously thought. Ocean rises are products of variable mantle composition, temperature and focused melting   pp68 - 74 Henry J. B. Dick & Huaiyang Zhou doi:10.1038/ngeo2318 The composition of mid-ocean ridge basalts varies with the properties of the mantle that feeds the ridges. Thermodynamic calculations of melt evolution suggest that most of the mantle melting occurs by an overlooked mechanism, focused melting. Lower-mantle water reservoir implied by the extreme stability of a hydrous aluminosilicate   pp75 - 79 Martha G. Pamato, Robert Myhill, Tiziana Boffa Ballaran, Daniel J. Frost, Florian Heidelbach et al. doi:10.1038/ngeo2306 Plumes are thought to transport water-rich material from the deep mantle to Earth's surface. High-pressure experiments identify a hydrous mineral phase that is stable under lower-mantle conditions and could provide a source for this water. See also: News and Views by Nishi 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

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