Data from the Cassini spacecraft show that the cusp regions of Saturn’s magnetic field—where it connects to the Sun’s magnetic field—have similarities to Earth’s and also intriguing differences.
Research Spotlights
Research spotlights are plain-language summaries of recent articles published in AGU’s suite of 24 journals.
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Ocean Dynamics May Drive North Atlantic Temperature Anomalies
A new analysis of sea surface temperature and salinity over several decades seeks to settle the debate on which of two mechanisms underlies the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation.
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North American Wild Rice Faces Sulfide Toxicity
Researchers have developed a model to inform the regulation of sulfate levels in freshwater environments that are threatening the iconic plant.
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Open-Source Tool Aims to Boost Confidence in Ice Sheet Models
The software could help strengthen ice sheet models to provide a better basis for policy decisions.
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What Causes Ecological Shifts?
A new information-processing framework helps researchers tease out the factors driving ecological shifts over short timescales.
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Is the Lower Crust Convecting Beneath Mid-Ocean Ridges?
The first attempt to couple models of hydrothermal circulation and magmatic convection along fast-spreading ridges may explain the spacing of hydrothermal vent fields along the East Pacific Rise.
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Measuring Earth’s Elasticity
A new study illuminates how crustal rocks break and stretch.
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Cosmic Ray Neutrons Reveal Mountain Snowpacks
The first application of aboveground neutron sensing to evaluate alpine snowpacks indicates that this method can reliably detect average snow depth and water content across intermediate distances.
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California Floods Linked to Atmospheric Water Vapor “Rivers”
Narrow atmospheric streams of water vapor that deliver heavy rains are more commonly associated with floods and debris flows in northern California than with flash floods in southern California.
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A New Baseline to Monitor Earth’s Dynamic Surface
Researchers devise a new mathematical approach to combine space- and ground-based observations into an alternative reference frame for monitoring the changing positions of Earth’s features.