Nature GeosciencePub Date : 2025-06-11DOI: 10.1038/s41561-025-01729-w
{"title":"Save the data","authors":"","doi":"10.1038/s41561-025-01729-w","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41561-025-01729-w","url":null,"abstract":"Cuts at US government agencies are disrupting monitoring critical to tracking Earth system changes and natural hazards. Data gaps threaten geoscience progress and the safety of society.","PeriodicalId":19053,"journal":{"name":"Nature Geoscience","volume":"18 6","pages":"451-451"},"PeriodicalIF":16.1,"publicationDate":"2025-06-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.nature.comhttps://www.nature.com/articles/s41561-025-01729-w.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144268768","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Nature GeosciencePub Date : 2025-06-11DOI: 10.1038/s41561-025-01707-2
Ares Rosakis, Mohamed Abdelmeguid, Ahmed Elbanna
{"title":"Near-field evidence for early supershear rupture of the Mw 7.8 Kahramanmaraş earthquake in Turkey","authors":"Ares Rosakis, Mohamed Abdelmeguid, Ahmed Elbanna","doi":"10.1038/s41561-025-01707-2","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41561-025-01707-2","url":null,"abstract":"The Mw 7.8 Kahramanmaraş/Pazarcik earthquake was larger and more destructive than was expected based on historical seismicity in southeastern Turkey in the past few centuries, raising questions about the nature of rupture initiation and propagation. Here we analyse near-field ground velocity records from seismometers to constrain the rupture propagation speed along the Narli splay fault, which hosted the initial rupture that eventually reached the main East Anatolian Fault. The measured particle velocities provide evidence for an early transition of the rupture from sub-Rayleigh to supershear behaviour, whereby the rupture speed exceeds that of the seismic shear waves. The near-in-situ field observational evidence is consistent with mechanistic understanding of supershear rupture. We estimate the instantaneous supershear rupture propagation speed to have been 1.55 times that of the shear wave speed and the sub-Rayleigh-to-supershear transition length to have been around 19.45 km. This work reveals the value of near-field instrumentation in characterizing the initiation of earthquakes along major faults. Analysis of ground motion velocity measurements recorded close to the Narli splay fault indicates an early transition to supershear rupture during the 2023 Kahramanmaraş earthquake.","PeriodicalId":19053,"journal":{"name":"Nature Geoscience","volume":"18 6","pages":"534-541"},"PeriodicalIF":16.1,"publicationDate":"2025-06-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144268773","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 : 2025-06-11DOI: 10.1038/s41561-025-01705-4
Francesco Putzolu, Robin N. Armstrong, Richard J. Herrington
{"title":"Jadarite’s unique recipe","authors":"Francesco Putzolu, Robin N. Armstrong, Richard J. Herrington","doi":"10.1038/s41561-025-01705-4","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41561-025-01705-4","url":null,"abstract":"Jadarite is a lithium-bearing mineral with the potential to facilitate the green energy transition. However, the route to form it is so specific that it is only known from one deposit on Earth, as Francesco Putzolu and colleagues explain.","PeriodicalId":19053,"journal":{"name":"Nature Geoscience","volume":"18 6","pages":"454-454"},"PeriodicalIF":16.1,"publicationDate":"2025-06-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144268767","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 : 2025-06-11DOI: 10.1038/s41561-025-01699-z
Danhe Wang, Hongmei Ma, Xichen Li, Ye Hu, Zhengyi Hu, Chunlei An, Minghu Ding, Chuanjin Li, Su Jiang, Yuansheng Li, Siyu Lu, Bo Sun, Gang Zeng, Michiel van den Broeke, Guitao Shi
{"title":"Sustained decrease in inland East Antarctic surface mass balance between 2005 and 2020","authors":"Danhe Wang, Hongmei Ma, Xichen Li, Ye Hu, Zhengyi Hu, Chunlei An, Minghu Ding, Chuanjin Li, Su Jiang, Yuansheng Li, Siyu Lu, Bo Sun, Gang Zeng, Michiel van den Broeke, Guitao Shi","doi":"10.1038/s41561-025-01699-z","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41561-025-01699-z","url":null,"abstract":"Accurate observations of surface mass balance are pivotal for assessing the Antarctic Ice Sheet mass balance and its link to climate dynamics. Studying regional changes in surface mass balance is challenging due to limited on-site observations and the susceptibility of measurements from snow pits and ice cores to localized disturbances. Satellite data and short-term localized measurements suggest no significant changes or a possible increase in surface mass balance across the East Antarctic Ice Sheet in recent decades, but these findings lack large-scale validation. Here we use observations from mass balance stakes to show a significant negative surface mass balance trend along the inland transect from Zhongshan Station to the Antarctic Ice Sheet summit (Dome A) during the period 2005–2020. The mean surface mass balance trend for the inland section over the 15-year period is −2.01 ± 0.37 kg m−2 yr–2, indicating a 35.5% decrease. This decrease is probably linked to enhanced zonal winds in the upper atmosphere and a deepened low-pressure system in the southern Indian Ocean. The former weakens meridional air transport to Antarctica, while the latter strengthens offshore winds over the study area, reducing onshore water vapour transport. These findings can be used to evaluate and improve regional climate models and refine estimates of contemporary Antarctic mass balance trends. Mass balance measurements from inland East Antarctica suggest a negative trend in surface mass balance from 2005 to 2020, probably associated with enhanced zonal winds.","PeriodicalId":19053,"journal":{"name":"Nature Geoscience","volume":"18 6","pages":"462-470"},"PeriodicalIF":16.1,"publicationDate":"2025-06-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144268769","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 : 2025-06-05DOI: 10.1038/s41561-025-01702-7
R. L. Tyne, M. W. Broadley, D. V. Bekaert, P. H. Barry, O. Warr, J. B. Langman, I. Musan, W. J. Jenkins, A. M. Seltzer
{"title":"Passive degassing of lithospheric volatiles recorded in shallow young groundwater","authors":"R. L. Tyne, M. W. Broadley, D. V. Bekaert, P. H. Barry, O. Warr, J. B. Langman, I. Musan, W. J. Jenkins, A. M. Seltzer","doi":"10.1038/s41561-025-01702-7","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41561-025-01702-7","url":null,"abstract":"The development of life on Earth has been enabled by its volatile-rich surface. The volatile budget of Earth’s surface is controlled by the balance between ingassing (for example, via subduction) and outgassing (for example, through magmatic and tectonic processes). Although volatiles within Earth’s interior are relatively depleted compared to CI chondrites, the total amount of volatiles within Earth is still substantial due to its vast size. However, the relative extent of diffuse degassing from Earth’s interior, not directly related to volcanism, is not well constrained. Here we use dissolved helium and high-precision argon isotopes combined with radiocarbon of dissolved inorganic carbon in groundwater from the Columbia Plateau Regional Aquifer (Washington and Idaho, USA). We identify mantle and crustal volatile sources and quantify their fluxes to the surface. Excess helium and argon in the groundwater indicate a mixture of sub-continental lithospheric mantle and crustal sources, suggesting that passive degassing of the sub-continental lithospheric mantle may be an important, yet previously unrecognized, outgassing process. This finding that considerable outgassing may occur even in volcanically quiescent parts of the crust is essential for quantifying the long-term global volatile mass balance. The sub-continental lithospheric mantle passively degasses volatiles to Earth’s surface, including from regions unaffected by volcanism, according to a study of helium and argon isotopes in young groundwater.","PeriodicalId":19053,"journal":{"name":"Nature Geoscience","volume":"18 6","pages":"542-547"},"PeriodicalIF":16.1,"publicationDate":"2025-06-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.nature.comhttps://www.nature.com/articles/s41561-025-01702-7.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144218703","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Nature GeosciencePub Date : 2025-06-05DOI: 10.1038/s41561-025-01704-5
Guido M. Gianni, Zonglin Guo, Adam F. Holt, Claudio Faccenna
{"title":"Non-collisional orogeny in northeast Japan driven by nearby same-dip double subduction","authors":"Guido M. Gianni, Zonglin Guo, Adam F. Holt, Claudio Faccenna","doi":"10.1038/s41561-025-01704-5","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41561-025-01704-5","url":null,"abstract":"Same-dip double subduction systems influence plate kinematics, geometry and mantle flow within the region bounded by the two subduction zones. However, whether these effects extend to nearby plate margin tectonics remains an open question. Furthermore, the range of geodynamic processes operating in these margins and driving non-collisional orogeny (that is, the formation of Andean-type mountain ranges) is not yet fully understood. Here we explore the potential geodynamic connection between the tectonic evolution of northeast Japan and the development of the Ryukyu/Izu–Bonin–Marianas same-dip double subduction using three-dimensional geodynamic models. We find that this same-dip double subduction drags the Pacific trench westwards, resulting in northward-propagating trench advance and compression affecting the northeastern Japan arc and back-arc. We thus propose that the dynamics of the Ryukyu/Izu–Bonin–Marianas same-dip double subduction over the past ~10–5 Myr drove the enigmatic plate kinematics responsible for non-collisional orogeny and back-arc subduction initiation in northeast Japan since ~6–3.5 Myr ago, which has made this region prone to catastrophic earthquakes. We also suggest that same-dip double subduction explains various ancient episodes of widespread non-collisional orogenesis and represents a mechanism through which subduction zones establish the plate kinematic conditions necessary for non-collisional orogenesis. The mountain ranges of northeast Japan were formed by the Ryukyu/Izu–Bonin–Marianas same-dip double subduction system in a process that may have driven other non-collisional orogens, according to geologically constrained three-dimensional geodynamic simulations.","PeriodicalId":19053,"journal":{"name":"Nature Geoscience","volume":"18 6","pages":"525-533"},"PeriodicalIF":16.1,"publicationDate":"2025-06-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.nature.comhttps://www.nature.com/articles/s41561-025-01704-5.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144218699","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Nature GeosciencePub Date : 2025-06-05DOI: 10.1038/s41561-025-01710-7
Daniele L. Pinti
{"title":"Earth’s exhale","authors":"Daniele L. Pinti","doi":"10.1038/s41561-025-01710-7","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41561-025-01710-7","url":null,"abstract":"Earth has been degassing volatiles since its accretion. Insights from the noble gases helium and argon in groundwater suggest an underappreciated role for degassing from the subcontinental mantle lithosphere below the continental roots.","PeriodicalId":19053,"journal":{"name":"Nature Geoscience","volume":"18 6","pages":"452-453"},"PeriodicalIF":16.1,"publicationDate":"2025-06-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144218698","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 : 2025-06-02DOI: 10.1038/s41561-025-01719-y
Lei Gu, Dominik L. Schumacher, Erich M. Fischer, Louise J. Slater, Jiabo Yin, Sebastian Sippel, Jie Chen, Pan Liu, Reto Knutti
{"title":"Flash drought impacts on global ecosystems amplified by extreme heat","authors":"Lei Gu, Dominik L. Schumacher, Erich M. Fischer, Louise J. Slater, Jiabo Yin, Sebastian Sippel, Jie Chen, Pan Liu, Reto Knutti","doi":"10.1038/s41561-025-01719-y","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41561-025-01719-y","url":null,"abstract":"Flash droughts—characterized by their rapid onset—can cause devastating socioeconomic and agricultural damage. During such events, soil moisture depletion is driven not only by precipitation shortages but also by the elevated atmospheric moisture demand arising due to extreme heat. However, the role of extreme heat in shaping the evolution of flash droughts and their ecological impacts remains uncertain. Here we investigate the processes involved by analysing global reanalysis data from 1950 to 2022. We find that, when flash droughts are accompanied by extreme heat, they exhibit 6.7–90.8% higher severity and 8.3–114.3% longer recovery time than flash droughts without extreme heat. The presence of extreme heat during flash droughts accelerates soil moisture drawdown over high latitudes, where wet soils and enhanced radiation foster evapotranspiration. By contrast, it slows the absolute onset speed in subtropical transitional climate zones owing to evapotranspiration throttling. Our machine learning approach further reveals that hot flash droughts lead to sharper declines in ecosystem productivity, particularly in croplands, thereby threatening global food security. These findings underscore the pressing need for enhanced infrastructure and ecosystem resilience to hot flash droughts in a warming future. Flash droughts that are accompanied by extreme heat drive more severe and prolonged impacts on global ecosystems, according to analysis of global reanalysis data and satellite observations.","PeriodicalId":19053,"journal":{"name":"Nature Geoscience","volume":"18 8","pages":"709-715"},"PeriodicalIF":16.1,"publicationDate":"2025-06-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.nature.comhttps://www.nature.com/articles/s41561-025-01719-y.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144193052","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Nature GeosciencePub Date : 2025-06-02DOI: 10.1038/s41561-025-01712-5
{"title":"Slab dynamics linked to transient weakening during mineral phase transitions","authors":"","doi":"10.1038/s41561-025-01712-5","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41561-025-01712-5","url":null,"abstract":"New experiments shed light on the complex interplay between rock deformation and metamorphism. Slab stagnation in Earth’s mantle transition zone may be explained by transient weakening during the olivine–spinel phase transition.","PeriodicalId":19053,"journal":{"name":"Nature Geoscience","volume":"18 6","pages":"457-458"},"PeriodicalIF":16.1,"publicationDate":"2025-06-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144193121","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 : 2025-06-02DOI: 10.1038/s41561-025-01715-2
Qingrui Wang, Kai Wang, Lintao Shao, Xinyi Tang, Shuchang Tang, Ondřej Mašek, Gesa Meyer, Jan Kleissl, Liwei Zhang, Mudan Wang, Weisheng Wang, Qing Yang, Stephen Sitch
{"title":"Increased terrestrial ecosystem carbon storage associated with global utility-scale photovoltaic installation","authors":"Qingrui Wang, Kai Wang, Lintao Shao, Xinyi Tang, Shuchang Tang, Ondřej Mašek, Gesa Meyer, Jan Kleissl, Liwei Zhang, Mudan Wang, Weisheng Wang, Qing Yang, Stephen Sitch","doi":"10.1038/s41561-025-01715-2","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41561-025-01715-2","url":null,"abstract":"Utility-scale photovoltaic (USPV) stands out as one of the foremost renewable energy technologies crucial for achieving global climate targets, owing to its low carbon footprint. While individual case studies exist, a comprehensive global analysis of the impacts of USPV deployment on land-cover changes and subsequent carbon pool dynamics across diverse ecosystems remains lacking. Here we show that worldwide deployment of USPV plants between 2000 and 2018 would increase the carbon pool of the hosting ecosystem by a total of 2.1 TgC over their lifespans, as revealed by the ensemble mean of multiple datasets. Although the carbon pool changes associated with global USPV deployment currently contribute approximately $${15.9}_{-5.8}^{+1.0}%$$ ( $${{{mathrm{ensemble}}; {mathrm{mean}}}}_{-{{mathrm{difference}}; {mathrm{to}}; {mathrm{percentile}}},25}^{+{{mathrm{difference}}; {mathrm{to}}; {mathrm{percentile}}},75}$$ ) (or an average absolute carbon footprint of approximately $${10.5}_{-3.8}^{+0.5},{mathrm{g}}$$ CO2-equivalent per kilowatt-hour) of the carbon footprint of USPV plants, this share is projected to increase by around 7-fold by 2050, driven primarily by decreasing photovoltaic manufacturing emissions. Notably, optimizing land management strategies can potentially enhance carbon density in the hosting ecosystem of existing USPV plants by approximately $${3.0}_{-0.4}^{+3.7},{mathrm{kgC}},{mathrm{m}}^{-2}$$ , thereby facilitating an average reduction of $${4.3}_{-0.2}^{+9.3}%$$ in the carbon footprint of these USPV plants. A utility-based assessment shows that the global installation of photovoltaic plants to harness solar energy between 2000 and 2018 led to an increase in terrestrial ecosystem carbon pools of 2.1 TgC.","PeriodicalId":19053,"journal":{"name":"Nature Geoscience","volume":"18 7","pages":"607-614"},"PeriodicalIF":16.1,"publicationDate":"2025-06-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144193053","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}