NATURE
1. Power from deep-sea
vents
Nature 501, 138 (12 September 2013) doi:10.1038/501138b
Published
online 11 September 2013
(Originally
published by Masahiro Yamamoto Yokosuka and Ryuhei Nakamura in Angewandte Chemie International Edition.
http://doi.org/f2dtrm (2013)
Researchers
have harnessed deep-sea hydrothermal vents to produce electricity.
2. Extracts of meteorite
Andrew Mitchinson
Nature 501, 177 (12 September 2013) doi:10.1038/501177a
(Originally
published by S. Pizzarello et al. in Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1309113110; 2013)
The
Sutter's Mill meteorite exploded in a dazzling fireball over California last
year. Writing in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,
Pizzarello et al. report that it contained organic molecules not found
in any previously analysed meteorites.
3. Stimulated X-ray
emission for materials science
M. Beye, S. Schreck, F. Sorgenfrei, C. Trabant, N.
Pontius, C. Schüßler-Langeheine, W. Wurth & A. Föhlisch
Nature 501, 191–194 (12 September 2013) doi:10.1038/nature12449
A spectroscopic technique has been demonstrated that
uses stimulated emission to enhance weak X-ray signals for fundamental studies
in materials science.
4. Changes in North
Atlantic nitrogen fixation controlled by ocean circulation
Marietta Straub, Daniel M. Sigman, Haojia Ren, Alfredo
Martínez-García, A. Nele Meckler, Mathis P. Hain & Gerald H. Haug
Nature 501, 200–203 (12 September 2013) doi:10.1038/nature12397
Reconstructed
changes in North Atlantic nitrogen fixation over the past 160,000 years have a
23,000-year cycle that is interpreted to result from precession-paced changes
in the supply of phosphorus to surface waters by equatorial Atlantic upwelling.
5. Retardation of arsenic
transport through a Pleistocene aquifer
Alexander van Geen, Benjamín C. Bostick, Pham Thi
Kim Trang, Vi Mai Lan, Nguyen-Ngoc Mai, Phu Dao Manh, Pham Hung Viet, Kathleen
Radloff, Zahid Aziz, Jacob L. Mey, Mason O. Stahl, Charles F. Harvey, Peter
Oates, Beth Weinman, Caroline Stengel, Felix Frei, Rolf Kipfer & Michael
Berg
Nature 501, 204–207 (12
September 2013) doi:10.1038/nature12444
Holocene
aquifers are the source of much arsenic poisoning in south and southeast Asia,
whereas Pleistocene aquifers are mostly safe; here the delayed arsenic
contamination of a Pleistocene aquifer is described and modelled.
6.
Non-chondritic sulphur isotope composition of the terrestrial mantle
J. Labidi, P. Cartigny & M. Moreira
Nature 501, 208–211 (12
September 2013) doi:10.1038/nature12490
Received 25 April 2013 Accepted 18 July 2013
Published online 04 September 2013
Fingerprints of sulphur isotopes in rocks from the
ridge beneath the Atlantic Ocean suggest that a substantial fraction of sulphur
at Earth's surface is left over from the formation of the planet's core.
SCIENCE
7.
It's Official—Voyager Has Left the Solar System
Richard A. Kerr
Science: Vol. 341 no. 6151 pp. 1158-1159 DOI:
10.1126/science.341.6151.1158
After 36 years of hurtling toward the edge of the
solar system, the Voyager 1 spacecraft—its sensors failing, its energy running
low—has crossed into the abyss of interstellar space.
8.
Researchers Wary as DOE Bids to Build Sixth U.S. Climate Model
Eli Kintisch
Science 13 September 2013:
1160.[DOI:10.1126/science.341.6151.1160]
The U.S. Department of Energy wants to build a new
computer climate model—the sixth in the U.S. modeling toolbox—but some climate
researchers are wary of the idea.
9.
Novel Craft Sets Out to Probe the Mysteries of Moondust
Yudhijit Bhattacharjee
Science 13 September 2013:
1161.[DOI:10.1126/science.341.6151.1161]
A new lunar mission that blasted off from Wallops
Flight Facility in Virginia last week will study the moon's atmosphere and
dust. In addition, it will give NASA a chance to test a new laser
communications system and a novel concept for designing spacecraft that could help
future space missions.
10.
Quantifying the Influence of Climate on Human Conflict
Solomon M. Hsiang, Marshall Burke, Edward Miguel
Science
13 September 2013: Vol. 341 no. 6151 1235367 DOI:10.1126/science.1235367A
A
rapidly growing body of research examines whether human conflict can be
affected by climatic changes. Drawing from archaeology, criminology, economics,
geography, history, political science, and psychology, we assemble and analyze
the 60 most rigorous quantitative studies and document, for the first time, a
striking convergence of results.
11. Slow Earthquakes,
Preseismic Velocity Changes, and the Origin of Slow Frictional Stick-Slip
Bryan
M. Kaproth and C. Marone
Science
13 September 2013: 1229-1232.
Slip-stick
experiments reveal the evolution of frictional behavior during slow
earthquakes.
12. HONO Emissions from
Soil Bacteria as a Major Source of Atmospheric Reactive Nitrogen
R.
Oswald, T. Behrendt, M. Ermel, D. Wu, H. Su, Y. Cheng, C. Breuninger, A.
Moravek, E. Mougin, C. Delon, B. Loubet, A. Pommerening-Röser, M. Sörgel, U.
Pöschl, T. Hoffmann, M.O. Andreae, F.X. Meixner, and I. Trebs
Science
13 September 2013: 1233-1235.[DOI:10.1126/science.1242266]
Abiotic
release of nitrous acid (HONO) emissions from soil are comparable to those of
NO in arid and arable regions.
13. Channelized Ice
Melting in the Ocean Boundary Layer Beneath Pine Island Glacier, Antarctica
T.
P. Stanton, W. J. Shaw, M. Truffer, H. F. J. Corr, L. E. Peters, K. L.
Riverman, R. Bindschadler, D. M. Holland, and S. Anandakrishnan
Science
13 September 2013: 1236-1239.[DOI:10.1126/science.1239373]
A
complex pattern of channelized melting exists on the underside of the ice shelf
of Pine Island Glacier in Antarctica.
14. Marine Taxa Track
Local Climate Velocities
Malin
L. Pinsky, Boris Worm, Michael J. Fogarty, Jorge L. Sarmiento, and Simon A.
Levin
Science
13 September 2013: 1239-1242.[DOI:10.1126/science.1239352]
Variation
in species’ responses to climate change can be explained by differences in the
local rates of climate change.
PNAS
15. Contribution of solar
radiation to decadal temperature variability over land
Kaicun
Wang and Robert E. Dickinson
PNAS
2013 110 (37) 14877-14882; published ahead of print August 26, 2013,
doi:10.1073/pnas.1311433110
This
paper examines further one suggested hypothesis, that variations in solar
radiation reaching the surface (Rs) have caused much of the observed
decadal temperature variability.
NATURE
GEOSCIENCE
Nature Geoscience Insight
- Marine cycles in flux
16. Impact of Arctic
meltdown on the microbial cycling of sulphur (Review)
M.
Levasseur
Nature
Geoscience
6, 691–700 (2013) doi:10.1038/ngeo1910
The
Arctic is warming faster than any other region in the world. The resultant
large-scale shift in sea ice cover could increase oceanic emissions of
dimethylsulphide, a climate-relevant trace gas generated by ice algae and
phytoplankton.
17. Processes and
patterns of oceanic nutrient limitation (rvw)
C.
M. Moore, M. M. Mills, K. R. Arrigo, I. Berman-Frank, L. Bopp, P. W. Boyd, E.
D. Galbraith, R. J. Geider, C. Guieu, S. L. Jaccard, T. D. Jickells, J. La
Roche, T. M. Lenton, N. M. Mahowald, E. Marañón, I. Marinov, J. K. Moore, T.
Nakatsuka, A. Oschlies, M. A. Saito, T. F. Thingstad, A. Tsuda & O. Ulloa
Photosynthetic
microbes, collectively termed phytoplankton, are responsible for the vast
majority of primary production in marine waters. A synthesis of the latest
research suggests that two broad nutrient limitation regimes dictate
phytoplankton abundance and activity in the global ocean.
18. Microbial
biogeochemistry of coastal upwelling regimes in a changing ocean (rvw)
Douglas
G. Capone & David A. Hutchins
doi:10.1038/ngeo1916
Coastal
upwelling regimes associated with eastern boundary currents are the most
biologically productive ecosystems in the ocean. A suite of human-induced
changes could perturb primary production and nutrient cycling in these highly
dynamic systems.
19. Microbial control of
the dark end of the biological pump (rvw)
Gerhard
J. Herndl & Thomas Reinthaler
doi:10.1038/ngeo1921
The
flux of carbon out of the ocean surface is not sufficient to meet the energy
demands of microbes in the dark ocean. A review of the literature suggests that
non-sinking particles and microbes that convert inorganic carbon into organic
matter could help to meet this deep-ocean energy demand. DARK OCEAN ECOSYSTEM
20. Seafloor oxygen
consumption fuelled by methane from cold seeps (rvw)
Antje
Boetius & Frank Wenzhöfer
doi:10.1038/ngeo1926
The
leakage of cold, methane-rich fluids from subsurface reservoirs to the sea
floor sustains some of the richest ecosystems on the sea bed. Microbial
consumption of seep methane means that these cold-seep communities consume
around two orders of magnitude more oxygen than non-seep seafloor communities.
21. Remote detection of
magmatic water in Bullialdus Crater on the Moon
R.
Klima, J. Cahill, J. Hagerty & D. Lawrence
Nature
Geoscience
6, 737–741 (2013) doi:10.1038/ngeo1909
The
remote detection of surface water indigenous to the Moon has proved difficult
because of alternative sources, such as the solar wind. Spectroscopic
observations of hydroxyl-bearing materials in Bullialdus Crater by the
Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft are consistent with indigenous magmatic water that was
excavated by impact from the lunar interior.
22. Rising river flows
throughout the twenty-first century in two Himalayan glacierized watersheds
W.
W. Immerzeel, F. Pellicciotti & M. F. P. Bierkens
Nature
Geoscience
6, 742–745 (2013) doi:10.1038/ngeo1896
Greater
Himalayan glaciers are retreating and losing mass. A combination of the latest
ensemble of climate models combined with a glacio-hydrological model suggests
that in two contrasting watersheds in the Greater Himalaya, glaciers will
recede but net glacier melt runoff is on a rising limb until at least 2050.
23. Heat flux variations
beneath central Greenland’s ice due to anomalously thin lithosphere
A.
G. Petrunin, I. Rogozhina, A. P. M. Vaughan, I. T. Kukkonen, M. K. Kaban, I.
Koulakov & M. Thomas
Nature
Geoscience
6, 746–750 (2013) doi:10.1038/ngeo1898
The
thermal state of the Earth’s surface is usually influenced more by climate than
by heating from the Earth’s interior. Numerical models show that in the oldest
and thickest part of the Greenland Ice Sheet, geothermal heat flux through an
anomalously thin lithosphere leads to strong regional variations in basal
melting.
24. Formation of
carbonate chimneys in the Mediterranean Sea linked to deep-water oxygen
depletion
Germain
Bayon, Stéphanie Dupré, Emmanuel Ponzevera, Joël Etoubleau, Sandrine Chéron,
Catherine Pierre, Jean Mascle, Antje Boetius & Gert J. de Lange
Nature
Geoscience
6, 755–760 (2013) doi:10.1038/ngeo1888
Submarine
seeps release substantial amounts of methane into the overlying water column at
continental margins, leading to the formation of calcium carbonate deposits.
Analyses of methane-derived carbonate build-ups on the Nile Delta
suggest that their formation coincided with the development of deep-water
anoxic or suboxic conditions.
25. Permafrost-carbon
complexities
Jorien
E. Vonk & Örjan Gustafsson
Nature
Geoscience
6, 675–676 (2013) doi:10.1038/ngeo1937
The
thawing and decomposition of carbon stored in permafrost generates greenhouse
gases that could further intensify global warming. We argue that lateral
transport of thawed permafrost carbon from land to ocean will translocate
greenhouse gas release away from the thaw site, and that storage and burial of
thawed carbon in long- and short-term reservoirs will attenuate greenhouse gas
emissions.
26. The legacy of the
Pleistocene megafauna extinctions on nutrient availability in Amazonia
Christopher
E. Doughty, Adam Wolf & Yadvinder Malhi
Nature
Geoscience
6, 761–764 (2013) doi:10.1038/ngeo1895
Between
about 50 and 10 thousand years ago, almost 100 genera of large animals went
extinct. Mathematical analyses suggest that the extinctions in Amazonia have
led to a reduction in the lateral flux of the limiting nutrient phosphorus—by
transport of dung and bodies—by 98%.
27. Dynamic behaviour of
the East Antarctic ice sheet during Pliocene warmth
Carys
P. Cook, Tina van de Flierdt, Trevor Williams, Sidney R. Hemming, Masao Iwai,
Munemasa Kobayashi, Francisco J. Jimenez-Espejo, Carlota Escutia, Jhon Jairo
González, Boo-Keun Khim, Robert M. McKay, Sandra Passchier, Steven M. Bohaty,
Christina R. Riesselman, Lisa Tauxe, Saiko Sugisaki, Alberto Lopez Galindo,
Molly O. Patterson, Francesca Sangiorgi, Elizabeth L. Pierce, Henk Brinkhuis,
Adam Klaus, Annick Fehr, James A. P. Bendle, Peter K. Bijl et al.
Nature
Geoscience
6, 765–769 (2013) doi:10.1038/ngeo1889
The
East Antarctic ice sheet is believed to be Earth's most stable ice sheet.
Changes in geochemical composition of offshore sediments suggest that its
margin repeatedly retreated by at least 350–550 kilometres inland between 5.3
and 3.3 million years ago.
28. Taxon-specific
response of marine nitrogen fixers to elevated carbon dioxide concentrations
David
A. Hutchins, Fei-Xue Fu, Eric A. Webb, Nathan Walworth & Alessandro
Tagliabue
Nature
Geoscience
6, 790–795 (2013) doi:10.1038/ngeo1858
Photosynthetic
microbes, collectively termed phytoplankton, are responsible for the vast
majority of primary production in marine waters. A synthesis of the latest
research suggests that two broad nutrient limitation regimes dictate
phytoplankton abundance and activity in the global ocean.
29. Ice sheet collapse
following a prolonged period of stable sea level during the last interglacial
Michael
J. O’Leary, Paul J. Hearty, William G. Thompson, Maureen E. Raymo, Jerry X.
Mitrovica & Jody M. Webster
Nature
Geoscience
6, 796–800 (2013) doi:10.1038/ngeo1890
Sea
level during the last interglacial period reached a peak of between 5 and 9 m above the present-day
level. A detailed reconstruction of sea level and isostatic rebound from
Western Australia indicates a prolonged period of sea-level stability at 3–4 m above present, followed
by an abrupt sea-level rise of 5–6 m.
30. A weak El
Niño/Southern Oscillation with delayed seasonal growth around 4,300 years ago
H.
V. McGregor, M. J. Fischer, M. K. Gagan, D. Fink, S. J. Phipps, H. Wong &
C. D. Woodroffe
Nature
Geoscience
(2013) doi:10.1038/ngeo1936
Palaeoclimate
records indicate lower El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) variance during the
middle Holocene compared with today, but the mechanisms leading to this muted
variability are not clear. A 175-year oxygen isotope record from a Porites
coral microatoll in the NINO3.4 region records persistently reduced ENSO
variance about 4,300 years
ago, and season-specific analyses of the record suggest that insolation played
an important role in this change.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
31. Pacific deep circulation and ventilation
controlled by tidal mixing away from the sea bottom
Akira
Oka & Yoshihiro Niwa
Nature Communications 4, Article number: 2419
doi:10.1038/ncomms3419
Prior observational and
theoretical studies have focused on intense tidal mixing near the sea bottom
(near-field mixing). Here we demonstrate that tidally induced mixing away from
the sea bottom (far-field mixing) is essential in controlling the Pacific
thermohaline circulation.
