Lying to the south of the Dharwar Craton, the expansive granulite massif, known as the Granulite Terrane of South India, preserves protracted history of the earth from ca. 3400–500 Ma. It has been divided into Northern and Southern Granulite Terranes, separated by the Moyar-Bhawani Shear Zone. Unlike the Archean Northern Granulite Terrane, the rocks of the Southern Granulite Terrane bear imprints of

The role of possible controlling factors in influencing the geomorphology of submarine canyons has been investigated using a database of 282 globally distributed modern examples collated from the literature and open-source worldwide bathymetry. Canyon geomorphology has been characterized quantitatively in terms of maximum and average canyon dimensions, canyon sinuosity, average canyon thalweg gradient

MODIS surface reflectance product (R_land) has been used to monitor waters due to its free availability and higher spatial resolution than MODIS ocean bands. However, its applicability in aquatic remote sensing has not been sufficiently assessed. Some fundamental questions such as the following need to be addressed: How does the R_land product perform in global inland and coastal waters? What water

Ecosystem engineering deals with how one species affects another (or others) via modifying habitat conditions and resource availability. Through the application of this concept, many Earth scientists have assessed the roles of focal species in modulating landscape formation and dynamics. No species, however, lives or evolves in isolation; moreover, few species exist without any engineering effects

The origin and development of the major rivers in the eastern Tibetan Plateau have been a special focus of research because of the close links recognized between river formation, tectonic uplift, and climate change. In this article, we review a number of sedimentary provenance investigations aiming to constrain the drainage evolution of the main rivers draining eastern Tibet, including the Mekong,

Peatlands are important carbon sinks, therefore their degradation mainly due to lowering of the water table, has an adverse effect to the carbon cycle and largely burden the atmosphere. Annually, extensive areas of these peatlands are affected by wildfires, therefore large peatland areas have been degraded, directly or indirectly related to anthropogenic activities, largely contributing to greenhouse

The Pampean loess is the most extensive continental paleo-record of aeolian material in the Southern Hemisphere, recording the deposition of dust transported by two major zonal wind systems: the southern westerly winds and the subtropical jets. In order to increase the understanding on paleo-atmospheric circulation over the Southern Hemisphere, we evaluate dust provenance through REE, Nd, Sr and Pb

Ferromanganese nodules (FMNs) are common products of pedogenesis and differ significantly from the surrounding soil matrix in terms of morphology, microstructure, and chemical composition. FMNs have direct impacts on nutrient cycles and heavy metal adsorption, and the concentric ring structure (or undifferentiated fabric) of FMNs can serve as fingerprints in assessing the paleoclimatic conditions and

With the aim of testing the representativity of detrital zircon U-Pb datasets, we combine new and published data from 31 large river systems in Europe and compare this information with the well-known geology of the continent. Detrital zircon ages range from Archean to Cenozoic and age clusters can be linked to different orogenic cycles and the formation of supercontinents thus representing all relevant

A review of the early Holocene paleoseismicity in areas covered by huge ice sheets in the interior of Fennoscandia and North America shows that observational data and numerical modelling are consistent with a Glacial Isostatic Adjustment response to ice removal from thick old lithosphere during the last deglaciation. We primarily relate this climate-earthquake relationship to the combined effects of

The Orphan Basin, located offshore northeastern Newfoundland, Eastern Canada, is a Mesozoic rift basin formed during the disintegration of Pangaea and the concurrent opening of the North Atlantic Ocean. The majority of previous work has divided the basin into the East (EOB) and West Orphan (WOB) subbasins, separated by the Central Orphan High (COH). These subbasins share some similarities but have

The failures of engineered dams that retain freshwater or mining waste (tailings) have led to socioeconomic and environmental consequences. However, the global magnitude-frequency statistics of these occurrences remain poorly quantified, out-of-date and/or limited in scope. Addressing this gap would give insight into how the hazard-risk of water-retention (reservoir) dams and mine tailings impoundments

Debris flows are among the most catastrophic natural phenomena, attracting the interest of researchers, engineers and government agencies. The complexity of the physical process has led to the development of numerous mathematical models to simulate and deeper understand the propagation of debris flows. Nevertheless, the intrinsic characteristics of models are not all suitable for every process observed

The offshore Chinese basins are located in the transition zone from the East Asia to the Western Pacific plate. The Cenozoic evolution of these basins reflects the geodynamic processes in East Asia. However, the coupling of the evolution of the offshore Chinese basins to the geodynamic processes occurring in the East Asian continental margin is still poorly understood. Here, the rifting processes of

As the archetype of mountain building in subduction zones, the Central Andes has constituted an excellent example for investigating mountain-building processes for decades, but the mechanism by which orogenic growth occurs remains debated. In this study we investigate the Southern Central Andes, between 22° and 35°S, by examining the along-strike variations in Cenozoic uplift history (<45 Ma) and the

The unique self-generation and self-storage characteristics of shale gas allow for its geochemical characteristics to better reflect the gas generation process inside the original rock under geological conditions. Based on a systematic analysis of 541 typical shale gas components and stable isotope compositions worldwide, this review provides an in-depth elucidation of the geochemical characteristics

On-going trade wars combined with the increasing consumption and depletion of known resources will necessitate the search for new deposits in poorly explored or unexplored areas, such as the polar regions. Antarctica is particular among the world's continents in that it has no native population and state sovereignty; the continent has also been identified as potentially harboring extensive hydrocarbon

The present study is a contribution to the understanding of continental-scale source-to-sink sedimentary systems over geological time scales. The northern half of South America is taken as a case study to explore the relations between (i) continental tectonic boundary conditions (active / passive margin, orogenic activity) and intracontinental deformation, (ii) the spatial distribution of clastic sediment

The global End-Devonian Hangenberg Event was one of the most important mass extinction events during the Phanerozoic eon. The stratigraphical, paleontological, and sedimentological evolution of strata equivalent to the Hangenberg Event have been widely investigated in three depositional environments of shallow-marine platform, of margin and upper slope, and of deep-water facies along the South China

Lacustrine shale oil represents an important opportunity for unconventional petroleum exploration and has received considerable attention from petroleum geologists. However, the assessment of oil content and resource quality of shale oil reservoirs with substantial heterogeneity and the determination of favorable exploration targets challenge geologists and petroleum explorers. Numerous methods and

This study reviews plant species richness and abundance change from the End Permian to Middle Triassic in South China and examines the co-evolutionary relationship between the flora and the environment through this critical interval in the history of terrestrial biotas. A normalized macro-fossil plant record, that considers only one taxon per whole plant, is produced. This identifies four broad phases

Over the past few decades, it has become increasingly clear that the impact of interplanetary bodies on other planetary bodies is one of the most ubiquitous and important geological processes in the Solar System. This impact process has played a fundamental role throughout the history of the Earth and other planetary bodies, resulting in both destructive and beneficial effects. The impact cratering

The evolution of the Retiolitinae marks one of the most important events in the evolution of the planktic graptolites (Graptoloidea), leading to a diversification of genera and species in the early Silurian oceans still highly underestimated and poorly understood. The complex tubarium construction of the Silurian Retiolitinae is reviewed using a unified concept to describe constructional details of

Following a decade during which its presence was widely accepted, the existence of the putative Ediacaran supercontinent Pannotia has come into question since the turn of the millenium, largely due to the geochronology of Ediacaran-Cambrian orogens, which suggests that the supposed landmass had begun to break up well before it was fully assembled. Paleomagnetic data from this time interval have been

K-Ar and Ar/Ar illite geochronology are powerful and versatile tools that can be used to provide age constraints on diverse geological processes such as diagenesis, hydrothermalism, and low-temperature metamorphism and deformation in the brittle and ductile-brittle regimes. However, the interpretation of illite Ar dates can be difficult, especially since results from grain-size fractionated samples

The present comprehensive multidisciplinary geophysical study provides new insights into the structural architecture and tectonic development of the Brazilian Equatorial Margin during the transform opening of the Equatorial Atlantic Ocean. The study integrates magnetic, gravity, and seismic data and adds to the knowledge of the prebreakup geotectonic setting of West Gondwana, shedding light on the

Landslide susceptibility corresponds to the probability of landslide occurrence across a given geographic space. This probability is usually estimated by using a binary classifier which is informed of landslide presence/absence data and associated landscape characteristics. Here, we consider the Italian national landslide inventory to prepare slope-unit based landslide susceptibility maps. These maps

The Singhbhum craton of eastern India contains an almost continuous depositional record from the Paleoarchean to the Neoproterozoic. Although researchers have examined the Mesoarchean to Neoproterozoic geological history in the last decade, the Paleoarchean sedimentological inventory is poor and the crust-mantle interaction is poorly constrained. Here we present new sedimentological data from the Paleoarchean-early

In this article, we review the distributions of metal elements in the crystal structures of olivine and its high-pressure polymorphs (wadsleyite and ringwoodite) and among these major phases in the upper mantle and the mantle transition zone based on reported structure refinements and chemical compositions of both natural and synthetic mineral samples. We discuss the concepts of a potential reservoir

Increasing consideration is being given as to whether and how the subsoil can be utilised as a resource to store greater quantities of organic carbon through a range of ‘frontier' technologies. However, recent work suggests ‘priming’ effects may occur when fresh soil organic carbon (SOC) is mixed with older organic carbon (OC). Combined with increasing intensity of land use and perturbation of the

The internal zones of the Western Alps arc are derived from an oceanic and continental subduction wedge developed beneath the Adria plate during its paleogene northward drift. Exhumation of the internal zones proceded from early Oligocene onwards due to westward extrusion of the Adria plate. The prominent fold-and-thrust structures which follow the arc shape, either forward or backward verging, postdate

Replacing coal with cleaner hydrocarbon resources is a viable solution to reach carbon neutrality goals over time, especially given the current lack of growth in green energy resources (e.g., hydro, solar, wind, geothermal) globally. Hydrocarbon resources offer a low-carbon, low-waste, large-scale, rapid solution. Dynamic continuous hydrocarbon accumulation (DCHA) exists widely in sandstone and shale

Circulation of water masses, sediment, and biotope between the sub-basins of the Mediterranean Sea strongly depends on morphological oceanic gateways. These geological features react to geodynamic reorganisation through volcanism, vertical movements, and/or the segmentation of sedimentary basins. Despite the palaeogeographic relevance of straits and oceanic-gateways, their evolution and impact on sedimentary

Phytoplankton form the base of most marine trophic chains and studying their past diversity at regional and global scales can provide valuable insights into the evolution of marine ecosystems and climate history. Using a new database of more than 4000 species of acritarchs and prasinophytes, a comprehensive investigation of the taxonomic diversity trajectories of this marine (micro)phytoplankton throughout

Evaporite deposition and seafloor spreading are two salient geological processes in the geological history of the Red Sea. We piece together the available evidence about rift evolution and evaporite formation to constrain the deposition history, analyze creep, and advance a plausible explanation for the preservation of these soluble formations. At the end of evaporite deposition before the Indian Ocean

Accumulated records of organic microfossils span billions of years of Earth history. The majority of this record consists of prokaryotes plus eukaryotes of a protistan grade, yet this type of fossilisation is also capable of capturing the organically preserved remains of animals. Recently, it has become apparent that non-biomineralizing animal groups, otherwise known only from rare instances of exceptional

Satellite imageries are an important geoinformation source for different applications in the Earth Science field. However, due to the limitation of the optic and sensor technologies and the high cost to update the sensors and equipments, the spectral and spatial resolution of the Earth Observation satellites may not meet the desired requirements. Thus, Remote Sensing Image Super-resolution (RSISR)

Known as the "third pole" and "water tower of Asia", the Tibetan Plateau (TP) is the home to the largest number of glaciers in the mid-latitudes and one of the most sensitive areas to global climate change due to its special geographical location and powerful thermodynamic effects. In recent years, the TP has been affected by exogenous pollutants and the concentrations of some pollutants have shown

The structural features of the continental shelf and oceanic basin of the Eastern Arctic as well as its tectonic history are particularly controversial. The New Siberian Islands (NSI) archipelago is one of the few territories accessible for direct geologic study in this region. The De Long Islands occupy the northernmost part of the NSI archipelago and are situated at the junction of the major tectonic

The complex interactions between biocrust properties and rainfall characteristics give rise to partitioning of infiltration and runoff. In this review we examine primary mechanisms for runoff generation due to water repellency (WR), pore clogging (PC), soil texture and structural features including surface roughness. The primary hypothesis is that while WR plays an important role in runoff generation

A carbonate slope links platform and basin-floor regions holding crucial information on the carbonate source-sink system of a vast ocean. There is a generally poor understanding of the entire process of carbonate slope deposition, failure, and subsequent transportation and redeposition etc. due to the lack of field observation and adequate numerical modelling algorithms. Based on a comprehensive literature

Rising air temperatures, intensifying wildfire activity, and human disturbance are driving rapid permafrost thaw across the subarctic, particularly for thaw-sensitive discontinuous permafrost. The Taiga Plains and Taiga Shield ecozones of northwestern Canada have experienced rapid and widespread permafrost thaw over recent decades, creating significant community concerns and knowledge gaps. In direct

The chemistry of Fe and Mn in natural geochemical systems are closely coupled, as Fe and Mn always co-exist in various forms (e.g., hydrated ions, soluble complexes, and particles) in a variety of surface and near-surface environments (e.g., waters, soils, and sediments) and show strong mutual interactions. The redox cycling of Fe and Mn functions as a “pump” for element cycling and energy flow, assuring

For a variety of reasons, Madagascar's rich and highly distinctive faunal assemblage has long attracted attention. Recurring questions with the associated studies have concerned when and how the ancestors of the various clades reached the island. For the land-bound animals, the common view is that they arrived after the Cretaceous on ‘rafts' that washed in from Africa. However, this centuries-old discussion

The Triassic–Jurassic transition, which is here broadly defined as extending from the Late Triassic through the Early Jurassic (~237 Ma to 174 Ma), was an important interval in Earth history. The end-Triassic mass extinction (ETME), at ~201 Ma, ranks among the ‘Big Five’ Phanerozoic mass extinctions. It largely completed the shift from the ‘Paleozoic Evolutionary Fauna’ to the ‘Modern Evolutionary

The origin and evolution of land plants in the Ordovician and Carboniferous reshaped the terrestrial environment, marine ecology, and atmospheric composition, ultimately triggering global climate change. Phosphorus (P) is a limiting nutrient for plants and can only be obtained from pedogenic weathering of bedrock (including rocks and deposits). In the Ordovician and Carboniferous, periodic and frequent

The ‘Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event’ represents the rapid diversification of marine organisms during the Middle Ordovician. As the initial stage of the ‘Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event’, the ‘Ordovician Plankton Revolution’ played a crucial role in the increase of biodiversity in the Ordovician. The occurrence, phylogeny, diversity and abundance of caryocaridids, an important and

The Aravalli Craton, representing the Precambrian nucleus of northwestern India, consists of the Archean Banded Gneissic Complex (BGC; 3.3–2.5 Ga) overlain by Paleoproterozoic (~2.2–1.7 Ga) and Paleo- to Neoproterozoic (~1.7–0.7 Ga) metasedimentary sequences of the Aravalli and Delhi supergroups, respectively. The extensively reworked Late Paleoproterozoic terrane located between the Aravalli and Delhi

Abstract not available

We found the study of Majhi et al. (2021) very interesting. The authors did an excellent job of evaluating the 100 USLE-based soil erosion studies undertaken in India and outlining the problems and errors encountered while estimating the USLE erosion factors in these studies. According to the authors, practically every study of the 100 research examined either overestimated or underestimated at least

Proxy records from across the Southern Hemisphere show significant local to regional scale variability in climatic and environmental conditions during late Marine Isotope Stage 3 and early Marine Isotope Stage 2, prior to the global last glacial maximum (LGM; 26.5–19.0 kyr). Although not necessarily synchronous across the hemisphere, the regional signature of these pre-26.5 kyr ‘events’ suggests greater

A structural model is developed for the south-central Taiwan fold-and-thrust belt that shows consistency across an array of data types and marks an important step forward in the consideration of geological hazards and risks. Although there is general agreement about the regional scale geology of Taiwan, there are considerable differences in the structural interpretations of its western fold-and-thrust

Rills caused by runoff concentration on erodible hillslopes generally have very irregular longitudinal profiles and cross-section shapes. Rill erosion directly depends on the hydraulics of flow within the rills which may differ greatly from that in larger and regular channels like streams or rivers. At first, in this paper, a review of the two different approaches to estimate rill flow velocity, based

We investigate kinematic evolutionary paths of seventeen major shear zones associated with internal thrust faults from the Himalayan, Appalachian, Caledonian, Zagros, Alpine, and Sevier fold-thrust belt (FTB), by assessing published minimum strain, kinematic vorticity number, and minimum translation. We estimate the pure shear component from the recorded vorticity and reconstruct a first-order kinematic

Many continental rifts are subjected to volcanism in tandem with rifting, which has raised a long-standing debate about whether magmatism is the cause or the consequence of plate fragmentation. To re-evaluate this chicken-and-egg question, we took advantage of five decades of research on the East African Rift System (EARS), the largest active continental rift on Earth, to explore the spatial and temporal

Rifted continental margins (RCM) are large-scale features of Earth's surface that show substantial morphological variations. Classical escarpment features are the subject of many studies in these settings while other morphologies that characterize this tectonic environment receive less attention. The case of the Brazilian South Atlantic margin, a continental-scale topographically pronounced terrain

The oldest well-preserved sedimentary rocks on Earth, which crop out around the North Pole Dome area of the Pilbara Craton, Australia, are an invaluable archive that provides clues about environments, life and the chemistry of Earth's surface up to 3.49 billion years ago. However, despite their remarkable preservation, they have undergone a long history of post-depositional modifications during diagenesis

Abstract not available