Waveform inversion of regional earthquakes reveals velocity anomalies interpreted as subducting seamounts that control an enigmatic segmentation in plate coupling along the Hikurangi margin.
Editors’ Highlights
Why is Permafrost Groundwater Surfacing?
Hydrogeological properties of degrading permafrost come to fruition with a new 3-D modeling study that highlights the increasing role of groundwater in the water cycle of high-latitude areas.
How Hot Was the Summer of 1783 Really? Trees Tell Tales
Volcanoes, heat waves, and tree rings – getting the seasonal story straight – a new study finds that volcanic fog lowered summer tree ring density despite the heat.
Life on Mars? Estimating Radiation Risks for Martian Astronauts
New research suggests that to minimize radiation risk for human exploration of Mars, astronauts will need to dig deep for safety.
Extreme Lithium Isotope Fractionations During Intense Weathering
Extreme lithium fractionation is observed when primary minerals in andesite are transformed to secondary clay minerals and then to oxides with intensive chemical weathering in a tropical climate.
Hydrologists Should Reconsider How They Calibrate Their Models
A new study suggests that the commonly used split sample approach in hydrology, where time series are divided into a part for model calibration and a part for model validation, should be abandoned.
Less Air Travel May Partially Contribute to Global Warming
Decrease in aircraft soot emission, as shown by COVID-19 lockdown, leads to a significant increase in ice crystal number in cirrus clouds, and results in a small global positive radiative effect.
New Results Deepen the Mystery of Earth’s Early Magnetic Field
How was Earth’s early magnetic field produced? New experimental results and modeling show that the energy source could not have come from exsolution of lithophile elements from the core.
New Observations Reveal Ancient Subglacial Water Paths
Analyses of new shipboard and ROV observations of bedrock channels carved by floods and outbursts from subglacial lakes under Antarctica shed light on complex subglacial processes.
When Less is More—The Moon Sheds Light on Clouds at Night
Shining light into the dark reveals the unseen, but in some cases, it changes our perception of reality. Through moonlight we learn how the environment tricks our ways of finding nocturnal clouds.