Silicate melts containing H2O in the lowermost mantle are surprisingly dense and may stagnate there, trapping primordial volatiles and potentially causing some of the ultra-low velocity zones.
Editors’ Highlights
Molecular Ions Unexpectedly Frequent in Earth’s Magnetosphere
A Japanese satellite reveals rapid and surprisingly frequent transport of molecular ions from the ionosphere to the magnetosphere, under not only extreme but also moderate geomagnetic conditions.
Hydrological Footprint of Atmospheric Rivers on Land
Atmospheric rivers that make landfall in the western United States have significant impacts on the surface water balance, sharpening the seasonality of water resources in coastal watersheds.
The Many Intertwined Stories of Tree Rings
Trees grow as they age, but it’s not straightforward to tease out how that growth changes over a century of environmental change.
Reconstructing Natural Streamflow at Unprecedented Resolution
A new research effort has mapped 35 years of naturalized streamflow for 2.94 million river reaches worldwide: an invaluable dataset for hydrology, biogeochemistry, ecology, and remote sensing.
Tropical Forests May Have More Canopy Than Previously Thought
A rare attempt to directly estimate leaf area in a tropical African broadleaved forest suggests that there may be more tree foliage than previously estimated.
Space Weather Drives Power Grid Anomalies in Europe
A retrospective cohort analysis of anomalies on the Czech power grid shows they are more common during enhanced geomagnetic activity, the first time such impacts have been identified outside the USA.
Accounting for the Fact that Snow Falls Slower than Rain
When calibrating satellite observations with ground-based ones, estimated precipitation rates are improved by considering that snow takes longer to fall compared to rain.
Newly Discovered Electric Current System Very Close to Saturn
In the tightly confined region between the innermost ring and the planet’s upper atmosphere, the Cassini spacecraft observed signatures of a previously undetected current system.
Radiosondes Measure Atmospheric Turbulence Over North America
Analyses of high-resolution radiosonde balloon measurements have provided a novel climatology of atmospheric turbulence parameters in the troposphere and lower stratosphere.