Silicon (Si) is the second most abundant element in the continental crust. Studies have illustrated that silicon isotopes have a potential to be tracers in the biogeochemical silica cycle. This paper details a developed method for the production and certification of a new Si reference material with natural-like isotopic composition using a fully calibrated multi-collector inductively plasma mass spectrometer

The sedimentological, geochemical, physical and magnetic properties of 40 surface and basal sediment samples of box cores collected throughout the Canadian Arctic Archipelago (CAA) from the Canadian Beaufort Shelf to Lancaster Sound were analyzed to determine the sedimentary processes that operate within the CAA during the pre- and post-industrial periods (i.e., before and after 1900 Common Era or

The Dacian Basin was uniquely situated to record late Miocene hydrological changes that influenced depositional environments and faunal dispersal patterns in Central Eurasia’s mega-lake Paratethys. Differences between the high strontium isotope ratio (87Sr/86Sr) of the waters from Lake Pannon and local Carpathian rivers and low Sr/86Sr of the Eastern Paratethys (Black Sea ‒ Caspian Sea) allow a thorough

Abrupt velocity gradients in the upper mantle, detectable by receiver functions (RF) techniques, have been known to exist down to the depths of ∼110 km beneath northeastern North America. Comparisons with the surface wave velocity models have designated some negative velocity gradients as the lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary (LAB), delineating a relatively thin lithosphere beneath this region. This

No abstract is available for this article.

The annual assessment of emission control effects on air quality is essential for policy adjustments. However, this assessment is difficult as the inter-annual changes in pollution are impacted by complex meteorological conditions. In this study, based on our wind-pollution decomposition (WPD) method, which decomposes wind effects (wind-driven) and nonwind effects, we established the meteorology-pollution

Ozone pollution adversely affects human health. In recent years, ozone pollution has become an important research topic and a challenge. By combining differential absorption lidar (DIAL), meteorological gradient tower data, the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model, and the backward trajectories model, changes in vertical ozone concentration, the influencing factors on ozone vertical distribution

Interferometric synthetic aperture radar and teleseismic P-wave data were combined to investigate the source rupture characteristics of the 2020 Mw 6.3 Yutian, China, earthquake. We first utilized the near-field displacements together with 29 broadband teleseismic P waveforms to investigate the uniform slip model by using a Bayesian bootstrap optimization nonlinear inversion method to resolve the nucleation

Earth system/ice-sheet coupling is an area of recent, major Earth System Model (ESM) development. This work occurs at the intersection of glaciology and climate science and is motivated by a need for robust projections of sea-level rise. The Community Ice Sheet Model version 2 (CISM2) is the newest component model of the Community Earth System Model version 2 (CESM2). This study describes the coupling

Indian summer monsoon (ISM) variability in the late Holocene (last 4000 years) is of great interest as the arid phase of ISM and cultivation of kharif (rainy season) crops started in this period. The present study aims to revisit the available speleothem records to study ISM rainfall variations and possible controlling factors in different Indian regions viz., core monsoon zone (CMZ), peninsular, the

The Jurassic magmatism and metamorphism of Colombia result from the convergent relation between the Farallón plate and the northwestern continental margin of South America. However, the geodynamic process that generated both magmatism and metamorphism is still unclear. Field relations, U–Pb geochronology and trace elements in zircons, whole-rock geochemistry, and mineral chemistry from a series of

High-quality non-linear hypocenter locations and waveform inversion focal mechanisms of recent, shallow earthquakes of the Messina Straits have allowed us to obtain the following main results: (i) seismicity has occurred below the east-dipping north-striking fault proposed by most investigators as the source of the 1908, magnitude 7.1 Messina earthquake, while it has been substantially absent in correspondence

In the arid and semi-arid regions of the Loess Plateau, seasonal freezing and thawing influence soil water movement, and water movement directly influences vegetation growth. However, currently, research with regard to freezing and thawing processes under various vegetation types and the mechanism of soil water movement is lacking. Therefore, the present study explored soil water migration characteristics

Sea ice in the Okhotsk Sea plays a significant role in global climate change. However, the history and mechanism of changes in sea ice spanning the last glacial cycle remain controversial. In this study, an 8.8 m core (LV55-40-1) was recovered from the southwestern Okhotsk Sea that contains a continuous sea ice record over the past ~110 kyr. The sand fraction and dropstones were used as ice-rafted

New zircon U-Pb age measurements, whole rock major and trace element geochemistry, and Sr and Nd isotopic analyses of samples from fourteen deep drill holes that penetrated the hidden Precambrian basement of the southernmost Baltic Sea and the coastal area of northern Poland (Pomerania), make it possible to identify a two episodes of Proterozoic magmatism in that area. The basement consists of late

Seasonal or interannual precipitation differences lead to changes in the water level of a tufa lake, while the underwater topography affects its local depth. Therefore, topo-bathymetry is important to study and protect the aquatic environment of tufa lakes. However, traditional field-based topo-bathymetric surveying methods (e.g., sounding rod or sonar) inevitably disturb the fragile lake ecosystem

Recent regional-scale studies of rock glaciers have added much to our knowledge of rock glaciers and associated permafrost spatial distribution. In this study, we used Google Earth Pro imagery and selected field work to identify and classify 159 rock glaciers in the marine-influenced, continental margin, Eastern Cascades of Washington state in Western North America. Most rock glaciers are tongue-shaped

In his comment on our recent article “Promoting fluvial geomorphology to ‘live with rivers’ in the Anthropocene Era” (García et al., 2021), Dave Rosgen (2021) suggests that we make three erroneous claims about him and his technical protocol Natural Channel Design (NCD). In this reply, we contextualize and address his comments, analysing the repeated critiques in recent decades of NCD. In doing so,

Graphite deposits may form alternatively by metamorphism of sedimentary rocks and from fluids. Both types occur in supracrustal successions within the Lewisian Complex of Northwest Scotland, and similarly in Palaeoproterozoic supracrustal rocks across the North Atlantic region in Canada, Greenland and Scandinavia. Carbon isotope compositions show that the graphite in Scotland had a mixed origin from

Graphite impacts crustal rheology and electric conductivity in the lower crust. In a combined geophysical and geological study from the Proterozoic Lofoten-Vesterålen Complex, Norway, we show the enrichment of graphite resulted in zones with strong schistosity and a sharp strain gradient towards host massive granulite gneiss. Increased graphite content resulted in high-conductivity zones with true

The paper aims to determine the most significant physicochemical indicators of the effects that a lined landfill in southern Poland has had on groundwater quality. The results of the tests of groundwater and leachate water from the landfill for the period 2009 to 2016 were subjected to a detailed statistical analysis based on the 10 physicochemical parameters. A factor analysis was conducted considering

The island of Lefkada, Greece periodically suffered environmental and structural damages induced by earthquakes. During the twenty-first century, two moderate events of magnitude M > 6 occurred in 2003 and 2015 (M6.2 and M6.5, respectively). The dominant type of the earthquake-induced environmental failures was rock falls and slides that were widespread at the western part of the island. The goal of

In the image processing as well as analysis field, Content-Based Satellites Image Retrieval (CBSIR) is a vitalissue. Though there are numerousprevailing Image Retrieval (IR) methods, they still need improvement in the retrieval accuracy along with computational intricacy.Thus, this paper proposed an efficient CBSIR system utilizingWeighted Brownian Motion-based Monarch Butterfly Optimizations(WBMMBO)

Recently, one of the most frequent natural hazards around several regions in the world is the landslide events. The area of Jabal Farasan in the northwest Jeddah of Saudi Arabia suffers from landslide events. The main cause of these events was identified due to the anthropogenic activities represented by mining activities. In this work, different machine learning algorithms (MLA), Random Forest (RF)

The present study uses Landsat satellite images of 1990, 2000 and 2018 to identify the land-use changes. Multilayer perceptron-neural network based land change modelling (LCM) has been applied to model future land-use/land cover (LULC). The prediction model has been validated using simulated and classified LULC maps of 2018 which resulted into an overall accuracy of 88%. The results indicate 389.27%

The risk assessment for the human health of airborne mineral fibres, including asbestos minerals, is a complex task. WebFPTI is a browser-based software written in Python that allows users to calculate an index of toxicity and pathogenicity potential of mineral fibres based on their crystal-chemical-physical properties. WebFPTI can be a powerful tool for both academy and environmental/health institutions

Manuscripts submitted to the Journal of Geophysical Research – Earth Surface will require a Plain Language Summary beginning in July 2021.

Waves and water level setup during storms can create overwashing flows across barrier islands. Overwashing flows can cause erosion, barrier breaching, and inlet formation, but their sediments can also be deposited and form washover fans. These widely different outcomes remain difficult to predict. Here we suggest that a breach develops when the sediment volume transported by overwashing flows exceeds

Coastal rivers that build deltas undergo repeated avulsion events—that is, abrupt changes in river course—which we need to understand to predict land building and flood hazards in coastal landscapes. Climate change can impact water discharge, flood frequency, sediment supply, and sea level, all of which could impact avulsion location and frequency. Here we present results from quasi-2D morphodynamic

Positive 14C gradients have recently been observed within the surface mixed layer of several continental-margin sediments. The best explanation for these positive 14C gradients is the occurrence and rapid degradation of labile organic carbon (LOC) in the upper 5–10 cm of the seabed. Based on a two-component model for sedimentary organic matter (i.e., a planktonic labile component and an older refractory

Rock exhumation and surface uplift over subduction zones require part of the stresses to cause crustal thickening within the wedge and/or through basal accretion. Although accumulated elastic strain around subduction zones is released through megathrust earthquakes and related aftershocks, these large events often result in no permanent forearc surface uplift. Nevertheless, energy is also released

Iceberg discharge influences ocean circulation, affects climate and increases global sea level. Icebergs are also known to gouge the seafloor in water depths limited by their keel depth, thus representing a hazard to subsea infrastructure. Here, we provide evidence that icebergs can affect the seafloor at depths greater than their keel depth by triggering submarine landslides. Using repeat bathymetric

Mantle plumes were conceived as thin, vertical conduits in which buoyant, hot rock from the lowermost mantle rises to Earth’s surface, manifesting as hotspot-type volcanism far from plate boundaries. Spatially correlated with hotspots are two vast provinces of slow seismic wave propagation in the lowermost mantle, probably representing the heat reservoirs that feed plumes. Imaging plume conduits has

The present study emphasises occurrence, mineral assemblages and mineral chemistry of the Neoproterozoic Degana Peraluminous Granite (DPG) around Rewat Hill and its fertility. Based on field evidences and nature of occurrences of wolframite, the tungsten mineralization of the Rewat Hill has been classified into five types; Type-I: quartz–wolframite vein, Type-II: quartz–muscovite–wolframite–polymetallic

Abstract Tibetan Plateau (TP), a high elevation region in the Asian subcontinent, play an influential role in the Indian summer monsoon. In this numerical model study, sensitivity to the local changes in the microphysics over Tibet on the model forecast of circulation and precipitation over Indian monsoon regions is assessed. The local modification of the cloud microphysical parameters, riming, over

Abstract Biologically rich rock-pools (RPs) are prominent component of rocky intertidal habitat and this study elucidates the factors affecting the phytoplankton distribution from high-tide (HT), mid-tide (MT) and low-tide (LT) RPs (Anjuna rocky shores, Goa, India), during the summer season. Results revealed that the RP location determines the nature of phytoplankton assemblage. MT-RPs and LT-RPs supported

Abstract Based on Poisson’s relation, a generalized equation to realize forward modelling of magnetic anomalies due to arbitrarily magnetized 2D listric fault sources in any component is derived in the space domain. The non-planar fault plane of a listric fault structure is described with a generalized polynomial equation. The estimated coefficients of a prescribed polynomial are used to construct

Despite Mt. Etna's long-standing reputation as an effusive volcano, since 1986 there has been an evident increase in mid-intensity explosive eruptions from its summit craters, with more than 240 episodes, better known as paroxysms (otherwise called paroxysmal episodes). These are characterized by strong Strombolian to lava fountaining activity that lasts from tens of minutes to a few days, producing

Rates are widely used to characterize processes in the geological sciences, and the ratios that rates represent deserve more careful attention. The numerator is a measure of change or difference, and the denominator is generally a corresponding interval of time. Temporal scaling is the quantitative relationship of differences and rates to their associated time intervals. These relationships are proportional

The late Bronze Age eruption of the Thera volcano was among the largest eruptions of the Holocene era. This catastrophic event might perish all organisms from the ancient Santorini and could seriously impact the sand fly fauna of the Aegean islands. To investigate these effects, the survival possibility of the sand fly fauna in the Santorini islands and the biogeographic investigation of the sand fly

Artificial lighting thought to be more wildlife-friendly than white light could encourage algal blooms.

Here are ten university spin-offs that just missed making the final eight in the 2021 Spinoff Prize competition, but are worth keeping an eye on.

Use of the toxic pollutant in fuel was curbed in the 1980s, but it lingers in airborne particles.

Start-up companies spawned at universities are transforming research findings into commercial offerings for biomedicine and technology.

One year on from their nomination, Nature finds out what progress these young companies have made.

The start-up Cambridge Photon Technology is developing photovoltaic materials that take full advantage of the Sun’s spectrum.

Crop scientist whose high-yield hybrid rice fed billions.

The start-up Neuronostics is using the brain waves of large numbers of people to assess an individual’s risk of seizure disorders more quickly and accurately.

Start-up GrayMatters Health wants to improve treatment for conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder by combining two neuroscience techniques.

The start-up ONA Therapeutics is developing an antibody directed at cells that initiate metastasis in cancer.

Start-up company HighT-Tech has developed a technique to make alloys that could improve catalysts or be used to build better batteries.

The start-up C2i Genomics is hoping to improve liquid biopsies with its platform for detecting rare tumour DNA in blood samples.

Partial SARS-CoV-2 sequences from early outbreaks in Wuhan were removed from a US government database by the scientists who deposited them.

The start-up Bilitech hopes organoids could be used as an alternative to liver transplants, to save lives and money.

Start-up Sibylla Biotech has developed a drug-discovery platform to look for protein folding intermediates to target with existing therapies.