Nature GeosciencePub Date : 2025-07-03DOI: 10.1038/s41561-025-01735-y
Ji Liu, Hai Wang, Juan Mou, Josep Penuelas, Manuel Delgado-Baquerizo, Adam C. Martiny, Guiyao Zhou, David A. Hutchins, Keisuke Inomura, Michael W. Lomas, Mojtaba Fakhraee, Adam Pellegrini, Tyler J. Kohler, Curtis A. Deutsch, Noah Planavsky, Brian Lapointe, Yong Zhang, Yanyan Li, Jiacong Zhou, Yixuan Zhang, Siyi Sun, Yong Li, Wei Zhang, Junji Cao, Ji Chen
{"title":"Global-scale shifts in marine ecological stoichiometry over the past 50 years","authors":"Ji Liu, Hai Wang, Juan Mou, Josep Penuelas, Manuel Delgado-Baquerizo, Adam C. Martiny, Guiyao Zhou, David A. Hutchins, Keisuke Inomura, Michael W. Lomas, Mojtaba Fakhraee, Adam Pellegrini, Tyler J. Kohler, Curtis A. Deutsch, Noah Planavsky, Brian Lapointe, Yong Zhang, Yanyan Li, Jiacong Zhou, Yixuan Zhang, Siyi Sun, Yong Li, Wei Zhang, Junji Cao, Ji Chen","doi":"10.1038/s41561-025-01735-y","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-025-01735-y","url":null,"abstract":"<p>The elemental stoichiometry of carbon (C), nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) regulates marine biogeochemical cycles and underpins the Redfield ratio paradigm. However, its global variability and response to environmental change remain poorly constrained. Here we compile a global dataset of 56,031 plankton (particulate) and 388,515 seawater (dissolved) samples from 1971 to 2020, spanning surface to 1,000 m depth, to assess spatial and temporal dynamics in marine C:N:P ratios. We show that planktonic C:P and N:P, and oceanic C:N and C:P ratios, consistently exceed Redfield ratio throughout the study period, indicating widespread deviation from canonical stoichiometry. Planktonic C:N and N:P ratios rose markedly in the late twentieth century, followed by a decline, suggesting a progressive alleviation of P limitation, probably driven by increased anthropogenic P inputs. Depth-resolved patterns show decreasing oceanic C:N and C:P, and increasing N:P ratios with depth, attributable to differential remineralization and microbial nutrient cycling. Our findings highlight dynamic, non-static stoichiometric patterns over decadal scales, offering critical observational constraints for refining the representation of elemental cycling in biogeochemical models and improving projections of marine ecosystem responses to global change.</p>","PeriodicalId":19053,"journal":{"name":"Nature Geoscience","volume":"4 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":18.3,"publicationDate":"2025-07-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144547161","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Nature GeosciencePub Date : 2025-07-01DOI: 10.1038/s41561-025-01714-3
{"title":"Fast ice — the last line of defence for weakened Antarctic ice shelves","authors":"","doi":"10.1038/s41561-025-01714-3","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-025-01714-3","url":null,"abstract":"A new study tracks sea ice, ocean swell and ice shelf conditions over multiple years in the lead-ups to large-scale Antarctic ice shelf calving events. We quantified the strengths and durations of increased ice shelf flexure that preconditioned and subsequently triggered the calving events.","PeriodicalId":19053,"journal":{"name":"Nature Geoscience","volume":"19 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":18.3,"publicationDate":"2025-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144520519","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Nature GeosciencePub Date : 2025-07-01DOI: 10.1038/s41561-025-01713-4
Nathan J. Teder, Luke G. Bennetts, Phillip A. Reid, Robert A. Massom, Jordan P. A. Pitt, Theodore A. Scambos, Alexander D. Fraser
{"title":"Large-scale ice-shelf calving events follow prolonged amplifications in flexure","authors":"Nathan J. Teder, Luke G. Bennetts, Phillip A. Reid, Robert A. Massom, Jordan P. A. Pitt, Theodore A. Scambos, Alexander D. Fraser","doi":"10.1038/s41561-025-01713-4","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-025-01713-4","url":null,"abstract":"<p>The retreat of Antarctic ice shelves due to calving and the subsequent reduction in buttressing of the Antarctic Ice Sheet are of major concern for future sea-level rise. Sudden, widespread calving of weakened ice shelves has been linked to fracture amplification forced by ocean swell following regional sea-ice losses, but increases in the magnitudes and durations of swell-induced ice-shelf flexure in the lead-ups to calving events have not been tracked. Here we present 7-year datasets of sea-ice-barrier lengths and shelf-front flexural stress that encompass large-scale calving events for the Wilkins and Voyeykov ice shelves. We find that the ice shelves exhibit similar preconditioning patterns, characterized by prolonged amplifications in flexure and the collapse of adjoining fast-ice barriers. We propose a conceptual model for the swell–sea-ice–shelf-front conditions that lead to calving events, show that it fits other major calving events and discuss the likely importance of sea-ice loss for the future of ice shelves.</p>","PeriodicalId":19053,"journal":{"name":"Nature Geoscience","volume":"67 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":18.3,"publicationDate":"2025-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144520505","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Soil carbon accrual and crop production enhanced by sustainable subsoil management","authors":"Zheng-Rong Kan, Zhenzhen Li, Wulf Amelung, Hai-Lin Zhang, Rattan Lal, Roland Bol, Xinmin Bian, Jian Liu, Yaguang Xue, Feng-Min Li, Haishui Yang","doi":"10.1038/s41561-025-01720-5","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-025-01720-5","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Soil conservation practices such as no-till and straw mulching have been practised worldwide, but they frequently show low potential to increase organic carbon and crop grain production, especially in rice paddy systems. Here a ditch-buried straw return technique is proposed to co-enhance soil carbon and crop yield in paddy systems through injection of straw into the subsoil. This technique can protect most of the surface soil and disturb only 10% of the whole field through deep tillage. A 15-year ditch-buried straw return experiment in rice–wheat cropping has shown that compared to the dominant rotary-tillage straw return management, grain yield was increased under ditch-buried straw return by 15% without any additional fertilization inputs. Ditch-buried straw return also increased soil organic carbon stocks at 0–40 cm depth by 46% (17.2 Mg ha<sup>−1</sup>) mainly through the enhanced conversion of straw-derived carbon into mineral-associated fungal necromass. Overall, ditch-buried straw return decreased net CO<sub>2</sub> equivalent emissions by 34% and increased net economic benefits by 18%. Joint enhancements of soil organic carbon and crop yield under ditch-buried straw return were further validated using meta-analysis around China. We conclude that ditch-buried straw return may work as an effective approach for subsoil management.</p>","PeriodicalId":19053,"journal":{"name":"Nature Geoscience","volume":"25 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":18.3,"publicationDate":"2025-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144520509","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Nature GeosciencePub Date : 2025-07-01DOI: 10.1038/s41561-025-01732-1
Zhongkui Luo
{"title":"Big soil benefits from buried straw","authors":"Zhongkui Luo","doi":"10.1038/s41561-025-01732-1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-025-01732-1","url":null,"abstract":"Balancing soil health and food production is a struggle for agriculture. The practice of burying crop residues in subsoil offers a dual win: richer carbon storage and higher yields.","PeriodicalId":19053,"journal":{"name":"Nature Geoscience","volume":"67 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":18.3,"publicationDate":"2025-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144520504","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Nature GeosciencePub Date : 2025-06-25DOI: 10.1038/s41561-025-01731-2
Yiqi Luo, Ning Wei, Xingjie Lu, Yu Zhou, Feng Tao, Quan Quan, Cuijuan Liao, Lifen Jiang, Jianyang Xia, Yuanyuan Huang, Shuli Niu, Xiangtao Xu, Ying Sun, Ning Zeng, Charles Koven, Liqing Peng, Steve Davis, Pete Smith, Fengqi You, Yu Jiang, Lailiang Cheng, Benjamin Houlton
{"title":"Large CO2 removal potential of woody debris preservation in managed forests","authors":"Yiqi Luo, Ning Wei, Xingjie Lu, Yu Zhou, Feng Tao, Quan Quan, Cuijuan Liao, Lifen Jiang, Jianyang Xia, Yuanyuan Huang, Shuli Niu, Xiangtao Xu, Ying Sun, Ning Zeng, Charles Koven, Liqing Peng, Steve Davis, Pete Smith, Fengqi You, Yu Jiang, Lailiang Cheng, Benjamin Houlton","doi":"10.1038/s41561-025-01731-2","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-025-01731-2","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Limiting climate warming to 1.5 °C requires reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and CO<sub>2</sub> removal. While various CO<sub>2</sub> removal strategies have been explored to achieve global net-zero greenhouse gas emissions and account for legacy emissions, additional exploration is warranted to examine more durable, scalable and sustainable approaches to achieve climate targets. Here we show that preserving woody debris in managed forests can remove gigatonnes of CO<sub>2</sub> from the atmosphere sustainably based on a carbon cycle analysis using three Earth system models. Woody debris is produced from logging, sawmill wastes and abandoned woody products, and can be preserved in deep soil to lengthen its residence time (a measure of durability) by thousands of years. Preserving annual woody debris production in managed forests has the capacity to remove 769–937 GtCO<sub>2</sub> from the atmosphere cumulatively (10.1–12.4 GtCO<sub>2</sub> yr<sup>−1</sup> on average) from 2025 to 2100, if its residence time is lengthened for 100–2,000 years and after 5% CO<sub>2</sub> removal is discounted to account for CO<sub>2</sub> emission due to machine operation for wood debris preservation. This translates to a reduction in global temperatures of 0.35–0.42 °C. Given the large potential, relatively low cost and long durability, future efforts should be focused on establishing large-scale demonstration projects for this technology in a variety of contexts, with rigorous monitoring of CO<sub>2</sub> removal, its co-benefits and side-effects.</p>","PeriodicalId":19053,"journal":{"name":"Nature Geoscience","volume":"61 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":18.3,"publicationDate":"2025-06-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144479025","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Nature GeosciencePub Date : 2025-06-25DOI: 10.1038/s41561-025-01717-0
Emma J. Watts, Rhiannon Rees, Philip Jonathan, Derek Keir, Rex N. Taylor, Melanie Siegburg, Emma L. Chambers, Carolina Pagli, Matthew J. Cooper, Agnes Michalik, J. Andrew Milton, Thea K. Hincks, Ermias F. Gebru, Atalay Ayele, Bekele Abebe, Thomas M. Gernon
{"title":"Mantle upwelling at Afar triple junction shaped by overriding plate dynamics","authors":"Emma J. Watts, Rhiannon Rees, Philip Jonathan, Derek Keir, Rex N. Taylor, Melanie Siegburg, Emma L. Chambers, Carolina Pagli, Matthew J. Cooper, Agnes Michalik, J. Andrew Milton, Thea K. Hincks, Ermias F. Gebru, Atalay Ayele, Bekele Abebe, Thomas M. Gernon","doi":"10.1038/s41561-025-01717-0","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-025-01717-0","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Mantle upwellings drive large-scale surface volcanism and facilitate continental breakup and ocean basin formation. However, the spatial characteristics and internal composition of these upwellings alongside how they are modified by plate tectonics are poorly resolved. Afar, East Africa, is a classic triple junction comprising three rifts at various stages of evolution thought to be underlain by a mantle upwelling or plume, allowing examination of the controls on the mantle upwelling. Here we present geochemical data from >130 samples of ‘young’ volcanoes spanning the rifts defining the triple junction to show that the underlying mantle comprises a single, asymmetric upwelling. Using statistical modelling to integrate our data with existing geochemical and geophysical constraints, we suggest that Afar is fed by a spatially and chemically heterogeneous upwelling, which controls the composition and relative abundance of melt in all three rift arms. We identify repetitive signatures in mantle compositions in rift regions, whose variability is a longer wavelength in faster-extending rift arms. This suggests more rapid channelized mantle flow occurs where rifting rates are higher and the plate is thinner, aiding flow of the upwelling towards the faster-spreading Red Sea Rift. Our findings demonstrate how the evolution of mantle upwellings is influenced by the dynamics of overriding plates.</p>","PeriodicalId":19053,"journal":{"name":"Nature Geoscience","volume":"39 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":18.3,"publicationDate":"2025-06-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144479026","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Nature GeosciencePub Date : 2025-06-23DOI: 10.1038/s41561-025-01725-0
Fei Wang, Lin Wang, Hongzhan Fei, Nobuyoshi Miyajima, Catherine McCammon, Daniel J. Frost, Tomoo Katsura
{"title":"Bridgmanite’s ferric iron content determined Earth’s oxidation state","authors":"Fei Wang, Lin Wang, Hongzhan Fei, Nobuyoshi Miyajima, Catherine McCammon, Daniel J. Frost, Tomoo Katsura","doi":"10.1038/s41561-025-01725-0","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-025-01725-0","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Bridgmanite, a magnesium-rich silicate perovskite, is the most prevalent mineral in Earth’s lower mantle and contains substantial quantities of ferric (oxidized) iron, even in equilibrium with iron metal. Mixing of oxygen-rich material from the lower mantle could have raised the oxidation state of the upper mantle to its present level after the more reducing conditions during core formation. However, it remains unclear how the lower-mantle oxygen content was established to achieve this level. Here we use high-pressure and temperature multi-anvil experiments at known oxygen fugacities to show that the bridgmanite ferric iron content is independent of pressure but decreases with temperature. Using these data, we build a thermodynamic model to calculate the ferric iron content of the lower mantle as bridgmanite crystallized from a reduced magma ocean in the early Earth. We determine that this ferric iron content would have been sufficient to explain the current upper mantle’s ferric iron content after whole mantle mixing.</p>","PeriodicalId":19053,"journal":{"name":"Nature Geoscience","volume":"91 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":18.3,"publicationDate":"2025-06-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144340855","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Nature GeosciencePub Date : 2025-06-23DOI: 10.1038/s41561-025-01721-4
Minde An, Bo Yao, Luke M. Western, Ronald G. Prinn, Xingchen Zhao, Jianxin Hu, Jens Mühle, Stefan Reimann, Martin K. Vollmer, Christina M. Harth, Simon O’Doherty, Ray F. Weiss, Wenxue Chi, Honghui Xu, Yan Yu, Anita L. Ganesan, Matthew Rigby
{"title":"Persistent emissions of ozone-depleting carbon tetrachloride from China during 2011–2021","authors":"Minde An, Bo Yao, Luke M. Western, Ronald G. Prinn, Xingchen Zhao, Jianxin Hu, Jens Mühle, Stefan Reimann, Martin K. Vollmer, Christina M. Harth, Simon O’Doherty, Ray F. Weiss, Wenxue Chi, Honghui Xu, Yan Yu, Anita L. Ganesan, Matthew Rigby","doi":"10.1038/s41561-025-01721-4","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-025-01721-4","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Lingering global emissions of carbon tetrachloride (CCl<sub>4</sub>) are slowing ozone layer recovery. Estimates of global CCl<sub>4</sub> emissions based on observed atmospheric mole fractions and inverse modelling (top down) exceed the emissions derived from known sources (bottom up) by ~30–40%. Here we derived CCl<sub>4</sub> emissions from China for 2011–2021 using long-term atmospheric observations from a network of sites from across China and a top-down approach. Mean annual CCl<sub>4</sub> emissions in China during 2011–2021 were between approximately 16 Gg yr<sup>−1</sup> and 25 Gg yr<sup>−1</sup>, substantially larger than previous bottom-up inventories for China of less than 6 Gg yr<sup>−1</sup> since 2011. Expressed in terms of ozone depletion potential (ODP)-weighted emissions, CCl<sub>4</sub> annual emissions from China are comparable to global annual ‘unexpected’ trichlorofluoromethane (CFC-11) emissions during 2013–2018, or global total annual hydrochlorofluorocarbon emissions in 2020. The CCl<sub>4</sub> emissions from China accounted for approximately half of the reported global total during 2011–2020, with neither showing a significant decreasing trend during this period. Substantial CCl<sub>4</sub> emissions in China from allowed feedstock use, during the renewed production of CFC-11 between 2013 and 2018, and from by-production could close some of the emissions gap. However, ~4–15 Gg yr<sup>−1</sup> of CCl<sub>4</sub> emissions in China remain unexplained during 2011–2021, potentially accounting for more than half of the remaining global gap.</p>","PeriodicalId":19053,"journal":{"name":"Nature Geoscience","volume":"21 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":18.3,"publicationDate":"2025-06-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144340858","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Nature GeosciencePub Date : 2025-06-20DOI: 10.1038/s41561-025-01724-1
Nanshan You, Jessica Till, David B. Lobell, Peng Zhu, Paul C. West, Hui Kong, Wei Li, Michael Sprenger, Nelson B. Villoria, Pengfei Li, Yi Yang, Zhenong Jin
{"title":"Climate-driven global cropland changes and consequent feedbacks","authors":"Nanshan You, Jessica Till, David B. Lobell, Peng Zhu, Paul C. West, Hui Kong, Wei Li, Michael Sprenger, Nelson B. Villoria, Pengfei Li, Yi Yang, Zhenong Jin","doi":"10.1038/s41561-025-01724-1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-025-01724-1","url":null,"abstract":"<p>The interdependence of climate change and agricultural land use remains a critical, yet unquantified, area of concern for future food production. Here we determine climate-driven cropland change based on an empirical model of cropland response to changes in agricultural productivity. By estimating counterfactual total factor productivity in a scenario without climate change, we find that 88 million hectares (90% confidence interval (CI) 5–179 Mha), or 6.3% (90% CI 3.6–12.8%) of the cropland currently used in 110 countries, can be attributed to climate change via reduced agricultural productivity growth over 1992–2020. This area exceeds the observed 3.9% net cropland expansion in the studied countries, indicating that total cropland area would have decreased in the absence of climate effects. The release of about 21.8 GtCO<sub>2</sub> (lower/upper bound: 4.4–41.4 GtCO<sub>2</sub>) could have been prevented without climate-driven cropland change, accounting for about 18.9% (3.8–35.9%) of land-use change emissions in these countries. Climate-driven cropland change also triggered noticeably warmer and drier local climate feedback in some regions, with potential repercussions for food security. The substantial emissions will probably impose further long-term negative impacts on agricultural efficiency.</p>","PeriodicalId":19053,"journal":{"name":"Nature Geoscience","volume":"14 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":18.3,"publicationDate":"2025-06-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144328706","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}