Nature Geoscience contents: August 2013 Volume 6 Number 8 pp585-672

TABLE OF CONTENTS August 2013 Volume 6, Issue 8 Editorial Commentary In the press Research Highlights News and Views Review Letters Articles Subscribe   Facebook   RSS   Recommend to library   Twitter   Advertisement New Impact Factor The new impact factor for Nature Geoscience is 12.367*. This places the journal first among all primary research journals in the geosciences, multidisciplinary category. *2012 Journal Citation Reports® (Thomson Reuters, 2013)   Editorial Top Quake after-effects   p585 doi:10.1038/ngeo1917 How the Earth's crust — rather than just buildings or humans — responds to the violent shaking of an earthquake has been observed for centuries. Nevertheless, the wide range of geological impacts continues to surprise. Commentary Top Appropriate protection of Mars   pp587 - 588 Catharine A. Conley and John D. Rummel doi:10.1038/ngeo1908 Geological and biological processes have eliminated all but the faintest traces of our earliest ancestors on Earth. To understand the origin of life, we must investigate other planets — but we can find what we seek only if we do not contaminate them with Earth life first. In the press Top Troubling milestone for CO2    p589 Nicola Jones doi:10.1038/ngeo1900 Research Highlights Top Planetary science: Magmatic Vesta | Ocean science: Acidification and acclimation | Geodynamics: Mineral line-up | Palaeoceanography: Miocene melt-down News and Views Top Volcanology: Sunken volcanoes   pp591 - 592 Sigurjón Jónsson doi:10.1038/ngeo1876 Subduction zone earthquakes cause the overriding plate to stretch and subside. Excessive subsidence of volcanoes during the large quakes in Chile in 2010 and Japan in 2011 highlight an unexpected response of volcanic areas to the sudden tectonic pull. See also: Letter by Pritchard et al. | Letter by Takada & Fukushima Natural hazards: Triggered mud eruption?   pp592 - 593 Paul Davis doi:10.1038/ngeo1899 The Indonesian government ruled that the Lusi mud eruption was triggered by drilling and held an oil company responsible. Instead, a curved rock layer capping the mud reservoir may have amplified passing seismic waves and the trigger may have been natural. See also: Letter by Lupi et al. Ocean-atmosphere coupling: Mesoscale eddy effects   pp594 - 595 Dudley Chelton doi:10.1038/ngeo1906 Interactions between the ocean and atmosphere are complex. An analysis of satellite data from the Southern Ocean reveals a tight coupling of ocean and atmosphere on horizontal scales of around 100 km that modifies both near-surface winds and ocean circulation. See also: Letter by Frenger et al. Palaeontology: Extinction promoted fire   pp595 - 596 Beverly Johnson doi:10.1038/ngeo1907 The extinction of megafauna in Australia roughly coincided with shifts in vegetation and fire regimes. Sediment geochemistry shows that the vegetation shift followed the extinction, indicating that the loss of browsers promoted fire and altered plant composition. See also: Letter by Lopes dos Santos et al. Geoscience JOBS of the week PhD Position in Nanotribology / Nanomanipulation Fundación IMDEA Nanociencia Atmospheric CO2, fire and grassland evolution through the Miocene University of Sheffield, Department of Animal & Plant Sciences Executive Director - Earth and Energy Resources Leadership Professional Program Queen's University Assistant Professor (Tenure Track) of Experimental Geochemistry / Mineral Physics Eidgenossische Technische Hochschule Zurich (ETH) Researchers Zhejiang University More Science jobs from Geoscience EVENT 10th Applied Isotope Geochemistry Conference 22.09.13 Budapest, Hungary More science events from Review Top Anthropogenic perturbation of the carbon fluxes from land to ocean   pp597 - 607 Pierre Regnier, Pierre Friedlingstein, Philippe Ciais, Fred T. Mackenzie, Nicolas Gruber et al. doi:10.1038/ngeo1830 A substantial amount of atmospheric carbon taken up on land is transported laterally from upland terrestrial ecosystems to the ocean. A synthesis of the available literature suggests that human activities have significantly increased soil carbon inputs to inland waters, but have only slightly affected carbon delivery to the open ocean. Letters Top Imprint of Southern Ocean eddies on winds, clouds and rainfall   pp608 - 612 I. Frenger, N. Gruber, R. Knutti and M. Munnich doi:10.1038/ngeo1863 Owing to the turbulent nature of the ocean, mesoscale eddies are omnipresent. An analysis of atmospheric conditions associated with several hundred thousand eddies in the Southern Ocean suggests that the transitory sea surface temperature fronts associated with these eddies alter near-surface winds, clouds and rainfall. See also: News and Views by Chelton Limits in detecting acceleration of ice sheet mass loss due to climate variability   pp613 - 616 B. Wouters, J. L. Bamber, M. R. van den Broeke, J. T. M. Lenaerts and I. Sasgen doi:10.1038/ngeo1874 The Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets have been reported to be losing mass at accelerating rates. Comparison of mass loss trends over the past decade with reconstructions of past mass loss indicates that the existing satellite record is too short to separate long-term mass loss trends from natural variability. Variable North Pacific influence on drought in southwestern North America since ad 854   pp617 - 621 Staryl McCabe-Glynn, Kathleen R. Johnson, Courtenay Strong, Max Berkelhammer, Ashish Sinha et al. doi:10.1038/ngeo1862 Over the twentieth century, droughts in southwestern North America have been linked to sea surface temperature variability in the North Pacific Ocean. Speleothem data from southern California suggest that links between the North Pacific and drought were less pronounced during the past millennium. Transient stratification as the cause of the North Pacific productivity spike during deglaciation   pp622 - 626 Phoebe J. Lam, Laura F. Robinson, Jerzy Blusztajn, Camille Li, Mea S. Cook et al. doi:10.1038/ngeo1873 During the last deglaciation, the North Pacific Ocean was characterized by a spike in primary productivity, which has been attributed to iron input. Marine sediment analyses suggest that, instead, the productivity may have been fuelled by deep convection and subsequent stratification. Abrupt vegetation change after the Late Quaternary megafaunal extinction in southeastern Australia   pp627 - 631 Raquel A. Lopes dos Santos, Patrick De Deckker, Ellen C. Hopmans, John W. Magee, Anchelique Mets et al. doi:10.1038/ngeo1856 The extinction of megafauna in Australia about 43,000 years ago has been linked to both human arrival and vegetation change. Marine sediment analyses from the east coast of Australia suggest that vegetation change was a result, rather than cause, of the extinction. See also: News and Views by Johnson Subsidence at southern Andes volcanoes induced by the 2010 Maule, Chile earthquake   pp632 - 636 M. E. Pritchard, J. A. Jay, F. Aron, S. T. Henderson and L. E. Lara doi:10.1038/ngeo1855 Large earthquakes in subduction zones can affect nearby volcanoes. Analysis of ground deformation following the 2010 earthquake in Maule, Chile, shows that some volcanoes subsided by up to 15 cm, probably because of quake-triggered release of hydrothermal fluids. See also: Letter by Takada & Fukushima | News and Views by Jonsson Volcanic subsidence triggered by the 2011 Tohoku earthquake in Japan   pp637 - 641 Youichiro Takada and Yo Fukushima doi:10.1038/ngeo1857 The 2011 Tohoku earthquake caused high levels of crustal deformation in Japan. Analysis of satellite radar and GPS data show that the earthquake caused nearby volcanic regions to subside instantaneously, creating elliptical depressions that are parallel to the direction of quake-induced crustal extension. See also: Letter by Pritchard et al. | News and Views by Jonsson Lusi mud eruption triggered by geometric focusing of seismic waves   pp642 - 646 M. Lupi, E. H. Saenger, F. Fuchs and S. A. Miller doi:10.1038/ngeo1884 The Lusi mud eruption in Indonesia has been ongoing since 2006. Numerical simulations show that a parabolic-shaped layer in the rock surrounding the site of the Lusi eruption could have amplified and focussed incoming seismic energy from an earthquake, which then triggered the mud eruption. See also: News and Views by Davis Subduction zone earthquake as potential trigger of submarine hydrocarbon seepage   pp647 - 651 David Fischer, José M. Mogollón, Michael Strasser, Thomas Pape, Gerhard Bohrmann et al. doi:10.1038/ngeo1886 Methane is abundant in marine sediments. Analysis of sediment cores and seismic images of marine sediments obtained off the coast of Pakistan show fracturing of gas hydrates and an increase in upward methane flux in the decades following a large earthquake in the Arabian Sea in 1945, suggesting that quakes can trigger hydrocarbon seepage. Frictional-faulting model for harmonic tremor before Redoubt Volcano eruptions   pp652 - 656 Ksenia Dmitrieva, Alicia J. Hotovec-Ellis, Stephanie Prejean and Eric M. Dunham doi:10.1038/ngeo1879 Volcanic tremor can be caused by small earthquakes occurring within the volcano. Mechanical modelling of volcanic tremor generated at Redoubt Volcano, Alaska, suggests that high-frequency tremor is the result of stick-slip motion in faults within the volcano conduit. Seismic imaging of melt in a displaced Hawaiian plume   pp657 - 660 Catherine A. Rychert, Gabi Laske, Nicholas Harmon and Peter M. Shearer doi:10.1038/ngeo1878 The precise location of the mantle plume upwelling beneath Hawaii is debated. Seismic data reveal a thick layer of melt in the mantle beneath western Hawaii, implying that the upwelling plume may be deflected around an ancient, resistive root beneath the island. Articles Top Low simulated radiation limit for runaway greenhouse climates   pp661 - 667 Colin Goldblatt, Tyler D. Robinson, Kevin J. Zahnle and David Crisp doi:10.1038/ngeo1892 As a moist atmosphere warms, it will reach a limit after which it is unable to radiate incoming solar radiation back to space, and a runaway greenhouse will occur. Calculations suggest that this limit is lower than previously thought and, for a water-saturated atmosphere, a runaway greenhouse can occur under present-day solar radiation. Lithium isotope evidence for enhanced weathering during Oceanic Anoxic Event 2   pp668 - 672 Philip A. E. Pogge von Strandmann, Hugh C. Jenkyns and Richard G. Woodfine doi:10.1038/ngeo1875 Ocean Anoxic Event 2 was marked by rapid global warming and loss of O2 from the ocean. Lithium isotope data suggest that the warming was accompanied by enhanced silicate weathering, which stimulated marine productivity and helped stabilize atmospheric CO2 levels. Top Advertisement Nature Publishing Index 2012 Global  The Nature Publishing Index (NPI) ranks institutions and countries according to the number of primary research articles they publish in the Nature family of journals in a one-year period. 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