NATURE
1. Large contribution of natural aerosols to
uncertainty in indirect forcing
K.
S. Carslaw, L. A. Lee, C. L. Reddington, K. J. Pringle, A. Rap, P. M. Forster,
G. W. Mann, D. V. Spracklen, M. T. Woodhouse, L. A. Regayre & J. R. Pierce
Nature 503, 67–71 (07 November 2013)
doi:10.1038/nature12674
It has been assumed that a
better understanding of the effects of anthropogenic aerosols will greatly
reduce the large uncertainties associated with our predictions of the radiative
forcing effects of aerosols on climate; however, this study shows that nearly
half of the uncertainty in the radiative effect of aerosols on clouds derives
from uncertainties in pre-industrial natural aerosols.
2. Structural change in molten basalt at deep mantle
conditions
Chrystèle
Sanloup, James W. E. Drewitt, Zuzana Konôpková, Philip Dalladay-Simpson, Donna
M. Morton, Nachiketa Rai, Wim van Westrenen & Wolfgang Morgenroth
Nature 503, 104–107 (07 November 2013)
doi:10.1038/nature12668
The
structure of molten basalt up to 60 GPa by means of in situ X-ray
diffraction is described, with the coordination of silicon increasing from four
under ambient conditions to six at 35 GPa, and subsequent reduced melt
compressibility, which seems to affect siderophile-element partitioning.
SCIENCE
4. Hell and High Water:
Practice-Relevant Adaptation Science
R. H. Moss, G. A. Meehl,
M. C. Lemos, J. B. Smith, J. R. Arnold, J. C. Arnott, D. Behar, G. P. Brasseur,
S. B. Broomell, A. J. Busalacchi, S. Dessai, K. L. Ebi, J. A. Edmonds, J.
Furlow, L. Goddard, H. C. Hartmann, J. W. Hurrell, J. W. Katzenberger, D. M.
Liverman, P. W. Mote, S. C. Moser, A. Kumar, R. S. Pulwarty, E. A. Seyller, B.
L. Turner II, W. M. Washington, and T. J. Wilbanks
Science 8 November 2013:
696-698.[DOI:10.1126/science.1239569]
Adaptation requires
science that analyzes decisions, identifies vulnerabilities, improves
foresight, and develops options.
5. Asymmetric
Distribution of Lunar Impact Basins Caused by Variations in Target Properties
Katarina Miljković, Mark
A. Wieczorek, Gareth S. Collins, Matthieu Laneuville, Gregory A. Neumann, H.
Jay Melosh, Sean C. Solomon, Roger J. Phillips, David E. Smith, and Maria T.
Zuber
Science 8 November 2013:
724-726.[DOI:10.1126/science.1243224]
Numerical simulations
imply that lunar impact basins are not representative of the earliest inner
solar system impact flux.
PNAS
6. Increased dry-season
length over southern Amazonia in recent decades and its implication for future
climate projection
Rong Fu, Lei Yin, Wenhong
Li, Paola A. Arias, Robert E. Dickinson, Lei Huang, Sudip Chakraborty, Katia
Fernandes, Brant Liebmann, Rosie Fisher, and Ranga B. Myneni
PNAS 2013 110 (45)
18110-18115; published ahead of print October 21, 2013,
doi:10.1073/pnas.1302584110
We have observed that the
dry-season length (DSL) has increased over southern Amazonia since 1979,
primarily owing to a delay of its ending dates (dry-season end, DSE), and is
accompanied by a prolonged fire season. A poleward shift of the subtropical jet
over South America and an increase of local convective inhibition energy in
austral winter (June–August) seem to cause the delay of the DSE in austral
spring (September–November).
7. Cyclic 100-ka
(glacial-interglacial) migration of subseafloor redox zonation on the Peruvian
shelf
Sergio Contreras, Patrick
Meister, Bo Liu, Xavier Prieto-Mollar, Kai-Uwe Hinrichs, Arzhang Khalili,
Timothy G. Ferdelman, Marcel M. M. Kuypers, and Bo Barker Jørgensen
PNAS 2013 110 (45)
18098-18103; published ahead of print October 21, 2013,
doi:10.1073/pnas.1305981110
We examined diagenetic
imprints and lipid biomarkers of past subseafloor microbial activity to
evaluate its response to glacial-interglacial cycles in a sedimentary section
drilled on the Peruvian shelf. Our study demonstrates how sediment
biogeochemistry of the Peru Margin has responded to glacial-interglacial
change.
8. Functional traits
predict relationship between plant abundance dynamic and long-term climate
warming
Nadejda A. Soudzilovskaia,
Tatiana G. Elumeeva, Vladimir G. Onipchenko, Islam I. Shidakov, Fatima S.
Salpagarova, Anzor B. Khubiev, Dzhamal K. Tekeev, and Johannes H. C.
Cornelissen
PNAS 2013 110 (45)
18180-18184; published ahead of print October 21, 2013,
doi:10.1073/pnas.1310700110
Here, we show that plant
functional traits can be used as predictors of vegetation response to climate
warming, accounting in our test ecosystem (the species-rich alpine belt of
Caucasus mountains, Russia) for 59% of variability in the per-species abundance
relation to temperature.
9. Earth-viewing
satellite perspectives on the Chelyabinsk meteor event
Steven D. Miller, William
C. Straka III, A. Scott Bachmeier, Timothy J. Schmit, Philip T. Partain, and
Yoo-Jeong Noh
PNAS 2013 110 (45)
18092-18097; published ahead of print October 21, 2013,
doi:10.1073/pnas.1307965110
NATURE COMMUNICATION
10. Morphological and genetic evidence for early
Holocene cattle management in northeastern China
Hucai
Zhang, Johanna L.A. Paijmans, Fengqin Chang, Xiaohong Wu, Guangjie Chen,
Chuzhao Lei, Xiujuan Yang, Zhenyi Wei, Daniel G. Bradley, Ludovic Orlando,
Terry O’Connor & Michael Hofreiter
Nature Communications 4, Article number: 2755 doi:10.1038/ncomms3755
Here we provide firmly
dated morphological and genetic evidence for early Holocene management of
taurine cattle in northeastern China. Our data suggest that the first attempts
to manage cattle in northern China predate the introduction of domestic cattle
that gave rise to the current stock by several thousand years.
11. Carbon isotope records reveal precise timing of
enhanced Southern Ocean upwelling during the last deglaciation
Giuseppe
Siani, Elisabeth Michel, Ricardo De Pol-Holz, Tim DeVries, Frank Lamy, Mélanie
Carel, Gulay Isguder, Fabien Dewilde & Anna Lourantou
Nature Communications 4, Article number: 2758
doi:10.1038/ncomms3758
Here we present
measurements of deglacial surface reservoir 14C age changes in the
eastern Pacific sector of the Southern Ocean, obtained by 14C dating
of tephra. These results provide evidence for three periods of enhanced
upwelling in the Southern Ocean during the last deglaciation, supporting the
hypothesis that Southern Ocean upwelling contributed to the deglacial rise in
atmospheric CO2.
