Article
Geology
Eric Font, Jiubin Chen, Marcel Regelous, Anette Regelous, Thierry Adatte
Summary: This study investigates the mercury isotope composition and behavior of trace elements in K-Pg sediments from the Bidart section in southwest France. The findings suggest that the Deccan Traps volcanic activity may have contributed to the K-Pg mass extinction.
Article
Geology
Anette Regelous, Stjepan Coric, Marcel Regelous, Ulrich Teipel
Summary: This study analyzed geochemical proxies for impact and volcanism at the K/Pg boundary in deep-marine sedimentary record from Germany. The results showed a sharp positive Ir peak at the boundary, while volcanic proxies had higher values in the earliest Danian. This supports the hypothesis that the impact may have triggered the largest, rapidly-erupted Deccan lava formations.
CRETACEOUS RESEARCH
(2022)
Article
Plant Sciences
Matthew J. Butrim, Dana L. Royer, Ian M. Miller, Marieke Dechesne, Nicole Neu-Yagle, Tyler R. Lyson, Kirk R. Johnson, Richard S. Barclay
Summary: This study analyzed leaf economic traits in the Denver Basin, Colorado, and found that there was no shift in leaf strategies after the KPB event. However, there were spatial and temporal patterns in leaf traits related to local environmental conditions.
FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Uisdean Nicholson, Veronica J. Bray, Sean P. S. Gulick, Benedict Aduomahor
Summary: Evidence of marine target impacts is rare on Earth. Seismic reflection data from the Guinea Plateau suggest the presence of a complex impact crater that formed approximately 66 million years ago, similar to the age of the Chicxulub impact crater. The crater may have formed as part of a closely timed impact cluster or through the breakup of a common parent asteroid.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Catherine G. Klein, Davide Pisani, Daniel J. Field, Rebecca Lakin, Matthew A. Wills, Nicholas R. Longrich
Summary: The study combines molecular data, fossils, and biogeography to reveal the timing of snake diversification and dispersal in relation to the end-Cretaceous mass extinction. Mass extinctions have shaped global biodiversity, leading to rapid diversification of surviving mammals, birds, frogs, and teleost fishes. The evolution of snakes, a major clade of predators, following the K-Pg extinction event remains poorly understood, highlighting the importance of this mass extinction in shaping Earth's extant vertebrate faunas.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2021)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Qiang Zhang, Qingsong Liu, Andrew P. Roberts, Jimin Yu, Yan Liu, Jinhua Li
Summary: The study demonstrates that Asian dust delivered iron to stimulate primary productivity and boost magnetotactic bacteria biomineralization in the late Miocene in the North Pacific Ocean. However, since the late Pliocene, dust inputs and primary productivity appear to have been decoupled, with magnetotactic bacteria activity mainly controlled by primary productivity.
GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS
(2021)
Article
Geology
Lauren K. O'Connor, Emily Dearing Crampton-Flood, Rhodri M. Jerrett, Gregory D. Price, B. David A. Naafs, Richard D. Pancost, Paul McCormack, Aris Lempotesis-Davies, Bart E. van Dongen, Sabine K. Lengger
Summary: A study of fossil peats in Canada suggests that the average annual air temperature during the end of the Cretaceous and the beginning of the Paleogene varied, with the highest temperature reaching 29°C. The range of temperature change on land is greater than that derived from marine proxy records. These findings help us better understand the temperature changes on land during the critical period of dinosaur extinction and the rise of mammals.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Raphael Morard, Christiane Hassenruck, Mattia Greco, Antonio Fernandez-Guerra, Sylvain Rigaud, Christophe J. Douady, Michal Kucera
Summary: Planktonic foraminifera are important for understanding ancient climate and the evolution of plankton. The origins of these organisms are unclear, but a molecular clock suggests that benthic foraminifera dispersed in the plankton and renewed the diversity of planktonic foraminifera after a mass extinction event. This study shows that calcareous benthic foraminifera are able to actively disperse in the plankton and that modern planktonic clades originated from different benthic ancestors. These findings challenge the classical interpretation of the fossil record and suggest that the diversity of planktonic foraminifera is continuously fueled by benthic foraminifera.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2022)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Heather L. Jones, Thomas Westerhold, Heather Birch, Pincelli Hull, M. Hedi Negra, Ursula Roehl, Julio Sepulveda, Johan Vellekoop, Jessica H. Whiteside, Laia Alegret, Michael Henehan, Libby Robinson, Joep Van Dijk, Timothy Bralower
Summary: El Kef is a globally significant stratigraphic section that has been extensively studied, but new research has found that its sedimentation was not as continuous and structurally simple as previously thought.
GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA BULLETIN
(2023)
Article
Geochemistry & Geophysics
Matthieu Amor, Juan Wan, Ramon Egli, Julie Carlut, Christophe Gatel, Ingrid Marie Andersen, Etienne Snoeck, Arash Komeili
Summary: Magnetotactic bacteria produce magnetic nanoparticles that contribute to the magnetization of sediments and rocks. This study shows that the observed magnetofossil fingerprints are produced by a combination of single-stranded and multi-stranded chains, and that the anisotropy of the chains is the key factor for distinguishing magnetofossils from other natural magnetite particles. The characteristics of the magnetofossils depend on the proportion of magnetosomes and the relative abundances of single-stranded and multi-stranded chains. This research has important implications for paleoclimatology, paleontology, and phylogenetics, and provides reference data for distinguishing different MTB lineages and sources of magnetite particles.
JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH-SOLID EARTH
(2022)
Article
Physics, Multidisciplinary
Danilo S. Borges, Hans J. Herrmann, Humberto A. Carmona, Jose S. Andrade Jr, Ascanio D. Araujo
Summary: Magnetic beads form chains and create self-similar patterns in an inclined Hele-Shaw cell. The patterns differ based on the angle of inclination, with one resembling stacked ropes and the other looking like a fortress from above. The morphological transition between the two patterns is characterized by a competition between friction-induced buckling and gravity, with both patterns exhibiting power law size distributions.
PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS
(2021)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Junichiro Kuroda, Kyoko Hagino, Yoichi Usui, Paul R. Bown, Kan-Hsi Hsiung, Saburo Sakai, Ron Hackney, Saneatsu Saito, Masafumi Murayama, Takuto Ando, Naohiko Ohkouchi
Summary: New biostratigraphic, magnetostratigraphic, and chemostratigraphic data from Site 208 provide a better understanding of the stratigraphy and depth of the Cretaceous-Paleogene (K-Pg) boundary. The sedimentary record at this site captures a time interval close to the Chicxulub impact event, although it may not be completely continuous.
GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA BULLETIN
(2022)
Article
Geography, Physical
Kayla M. Irizarry, James D. Witts, Matthew P. Garb, Anastasia Rashkova, Neil H. Landman, Mark E. Patzkowsky
Summary: The bolide impact-66 million years ago near Chicxulub triggered a global mass extinction. A new study in Texas provides detailed evidence of sediment flows and debris flows resulting from the impact. These findings highlight the importance of sediment transport in shaping post-impact environments.
PALAEOGEOGRAPHY PALAEOCLIMATOLOGY PALAEOECOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Geography, Physical
Rodrigo M. Guerra, Andrea Concheyro, Karlos G. D. Kochhann, Marlone H. H. Bom, Daiane Ceolin, Telma Musso, Jairo F. Savian, Gerson Fauth
Summary: The study investigates changes in calcareous nannofossil and ostracod communities in the Cerro Azul Section of the Neuquen Basin, Argentina, across the Cretaceous-Paleogene transition, reflecting surface and bottom water conditions. The transitions are characterized by turnovers in assemblages from Cretaceous forms to Danian taxa, associated with collapse and subsequent recovery of carbonate production, hinting at changes in surface water productivity. The relative abundance shifts in microfossils suggest fluctuations in surface water productivity and environmental conditions during the K-Pg transition.
PALAEOGEOGRAPHY PALAEOCLIMATOLOGY PALAEOECOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Geography, Physical
Yitian Yin, Laiming Zhang, Xue Gu, Runsheng Yin, Yixiong Wen, Tianjie Jin, Chengshan Wang
Summary: This study reveals that the uppermost Cretaceous-lowermost Paleogene strata in the low-latitude Nanxiong Basin exhibit an extremely high mean annual terrestrial temperature, which may be attributed to the Deccan Traps volcanism and the extremely hot and arid regional climate.
PALAEOGEOGRAPHY PALAEOCLIMATOLOGY PALAEOECOLOGY
(2023)
Review
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
Pranami Goswami, Kuang He, Jinhua Li, Yongxin Pan, Andrew P. Roberts, Wei Lin
Summary: Magnetotactic bacteria play an important role in aquatic ecosystems, as they can orient themselves using the Earth's magnetic field and navigate to their preferred microenvironments. They are also capable of sequestering heavy metals and their fossilized magnetic nanoparticles can provide insights into past environmental changes and geomagnetic field history.
NPJ BIOFILMS AND MICROBIOMES
(2022)
Article
Microbiology
Jinhua Li, Peiyu Liu, Nicolas Menguy, Karim Benzerara, Jinling Bai, Xiang Zhao, Eric Leroy, Chaoqun Zhang, Heng Zhang, Jiawei Liu, Rongrong Zhang, Kelei Zhu, Andrew P. Roberts, Yongxin Pan
Summary: This study proposes a new molecular biology method for identifying and studying magnetotactic bacteria (MTB) in natural environments. The results identify three novel MTB strains and describe their magnetosome biomineralization characteristics. This is significant for expanding our knowledge of MTB and developing strategies for studying uncultured MTB in natural environments.
ENVIRONMENTAL MICROBIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Udara Amarathunga, Andrew McC Hogg, Eelco J. Rohling, Andrew P. Roberts, Katharine M. Grant, David Heslop, Pengxiang Hu, Diederik Liebrand, Thomas Westerhold, Xiang Zhao, Stewart Gilmore
Summary: A mile-high marine cascade terminated the Messinian salinity crisis 5.33 Myr ago, and flooding caused a massive transfer of salt from the western to the eastern Mediterranean, resulting in hyper-stratification and sapropel deposition.
Article
Geochemistry & Geophysics
Victor A. Piedrahita, Simone Galeotti, Xiang Zhao, Andrew P. Roberts, Eelco J. Rohling, David Heslop, Fabio Florindo, Katharine M. Grant, Laura Rodriguez-Sanz, Daniele Reghellin, Richard E. Zeebe
Summary: This study documents orbital signatures in marine sediments from Contessa Road, Italy, showing orbitally controlled lysocline depth adjustments and orbital phasing of the PETM CIE onset close to both long and short eccentricity maxima. The findings suggest that climate processes associated with orbital forcing of both long and short eccentricity maxima played an important role in triggering the carbon cycle perturbations of all Paleocene-Eocene CIE events.
EARTH AND PLANETARY SCIENCE LETTERS
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Peiyu Liu, Yue Zheng, Rongrong Zhang, Jinling Bai, Kelei Zhu, Karim Benzerara, Nicolas Menguy, Xiang Zhao, Andrew P. Roberts, Yongxin Pan, Jinhua Li
Summary: A general model for gene networks controlling magnetosome biogenesis and chain assembly in magnetotactic bacteria is proposed through comparative genomic and phenomic analysis. Magnetotactic bacteria (MTB) are a group of phylogenetically and morphologically diverse prokaryotes that can sense Earth's magnetic field via nanocrystals of magnetic iron minerals. The study of magnetosome biogenesis and organization in MTB has been limited to a few cultured strains, but this research presents an integrative genomic and phenomic analysis to investigate the genetic basis of magnetosome biomineralization in both cultured and uncultured strains from diverse MTB groups. The magnetosome gene contents/networks are correlated with magnetic particle morphology and chain configuration, and a general model for gene networks controlling magnetosome biogenesis and chain assembly in MTB systems is proposed.
NATIONAL SCIENCE REVIEW
(2023)
Article
Geochemistry & Geophysics
Victor A. Piedrahita, Xiang Zhao, Andrew P. Roberts, Eelco J. Rohling, David Heslop, Simone Galeotti, Laura Rodriguez-Sanz, Fabio Florindo, Katharine M. Grant
Summary: Carbon releases into the climate system result in global warming and ocean acidification, which can be reversed by carbon sequestration. However, the controls on carbon removal timescales and their dependence on initial perturbation amplitude are poorly understood. This study assesses late Paleocene-early Eocene (LPEE) carbon cycle perturbations to constrain carbon removal timescales and reveals accelerated carbon sequestration during LPEE carbon injection recovery. The short carbon removal timescales are likely related to accelerated oceanic biological pump and enhanced chemical weathering.
EARTH AND PLANETARY SCIENCE LETTERS
(2023)
Editorial Material
Geochemistry & Geophysics
Fabio Florindo, Valerio Acocella, Ann Marie Carlton, Paolo D'Odorico, Qingyun Duan, Andrew Gettelman, Jasper Halekas, Ruth Harris, Gesine Mollenhauer, Alan Robock, Claudine Stirling, Yusuke Yokoyama
Summary: Reviews of Geophysics is an AGU journal that publishes comprehensive review articles across various disciplines within the Earth and Space Sciences. It is a highly ranked journal in the fields of Geochemistry and Geophysics, with a high Journal Impact Factor (JIF). The journal's review papers provide crucial context for current work, establishing a framework for comprehensive understanding of research progress and interconnections between different communities.
REVIEWS OF GEOPHYSICS
(2023)
Editorial Material
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Amy East, Amir AghaKouchak, Graziella Caprarelli, Gabriel Filippelli, Fabio Florindo, Charles Luce, Harihar Rajaram, Lynn Russell, Cristina Santin, Isaac Santos
Summary: Fire has always been a significant part of ecosystems, but human-induced global climate change is now changing fire patterns on Earth's land surface, making it crucial to understand the physical, biological, and chemical processes of fire and its impact on human societies. In 2020, AGU launched a Special Collection across 10 journals, inviting papers on the theme of Fire in the Earth System to promote cutting-edge research in fire-related science. The completed Special Collection consists of over 100 papers. This summary categorizes the published articles into seven themes: paleofire and its correlation with climate; evolution of recent and future fire patterns under ongoing climate change; physical (atmospheric) and chemical processes associated with fire; ecosystem effects, including biogeochemical cycles; physical landscape changes and associated hazards after fire; fire effects on water quality, air quality, and human health; and new methods and technologies applied in fire research.
JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH-EARTH SURFACE
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Dunfan Wang, Andrew P. Roberts, Eelco J. Rohling, Weiqi Yao, Yi Zhong, Zhengquan Yao, Yang Lu, Qingsong Liu
Summary: Stimulation of the biological pump by iron-bearing dust in the eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean plays an important role in long-term carbon sequestration, but the impact of past dust fertilization on CO2 perturbations over major climate transitions is still debated.
COMMUNICATIONS EARTH & ENVIRONMENT
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Hong Ao, Eelco J. Rohling, Xinzhou Li, Yougui Song, Andrew P. Roberts, Yongming Han, Christopher J. Poulsen, Tara N. Jonell, Diederik Liebrand, Qiang Sun, Xinxia Li, Xiaoke Qiang, Peng Zhang, Mark J. Dekkers
Summary: Grain size and magnetic susceptibility records from the Chinese Loess Plateau and model simulations suggest that the dry and windy Asian glacials during the mid-Pleistocene transition were likely caused by the expansion of the Northern Hemisphere ice sheet. The extreme glacial loess coarsening events at the onset and middle of the mid-Pleistocene transition reflect intensified Asian aridification and winter monsoon activity, coinciding with Northern Hemisphere glacial ice sheet expansion. These findings indicate that the dry and windy Asian glacials were driven by an amplified terrestrial climate response to the coincident Northern Hemisphere ice sheet expansion.
COMMUNICATIONS EARTH & ENVIRONMENT
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Zhiyong Lin, Harald Strauss, Joern Peckmann, Andrew P. Roberts, Yang Lu, Xiaoming Sun, Tingting Chen, Mathias Harzhauser
Summary: Sulphate deficiency in lake environments leads to increased atmospheric methane, while sulphate-driven anaerobic oxidation of methane (SD-AOM) is hindered. The study identifies abundant iron sulphide minerals in Lake Pannon sediments, indicating substantial methane consumption in the lake. These findings highlight the importance of sulphate in reducing methane release from lake sediments to the atmosphere.
COMMUNICATIONS EARTH & ENVIRONMENT
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Liao Chang, Babette A. A. Hoogakker, David Heslop, Xiang Zhao, Andrew P. P. Roberts, Patrick De Deckker, Pengfei Xue, Zhaowen Pei, Fan Zeng, Rong Huang, Baoqi Huang, Shishun Wang, Thomas A. A. Berndt, Melanie Leng, Jan-Berend W. Stuut, Richard J. J. Harrison
Summary: By studying a long magnetofossil record from the eastern Indian Ocean, we found coexisting phenomena of magnetic hardening, enlargement, and less oxidation of magnetofossils during glacials compared to interglacials over the past 900,000 years. Our multi-proxy records consistently suggest a recurring decrease in O2 levels in the glacial Indian Ocean, similar to observations in the Atlantic and Pacific during the last glaciation. This repeated oxygen decline strongly supports the hypothesis that increased carbon storage in the Indian Ocean during glacial periods played a significant role in atmospheric CO2 cycling and climate change over recent glacial/interglacial timescales.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2023)
Article
Geochemistry & Geophysics
Ana Claudia Santos, Claudia Cruz, Eric Font, David French, Alexandra Guedes, Karen Moreira, Helena Sant'Ovaia, Bruno J. C. Vieira, Joao C. Waerenborgh, Bruno Valentim
Summary: Large amounts of coal combustion products are generated annually, but only 64% are utilized, with the rest being landfilled. These landfilled products contain valuable materials such as ferrospheres that can be used as catalysts. This study investigated the properties of bottom ash, economizer grits, and fly ash samples from a Portuguese power plant, and found that magnetic separation can effectively recover ferrospheres.
Article
Geochemistry & Geophysics
David Heslop, Janice L. Scealy, Andrew T. A. Wood, Lisa Tauxe, Andrew P. Roberts
Summary: Paleomagnetic statistical inference is often hindered by distributional assumptions of parametric null hypothesis tests. To address this, the bootstrap method has been proposed as a nonparametric alternative. However, the current bootstrap test for a common mean direction in paleomagnetic analysis lacks consideration of a null hypothesis. In this study, we integrate recent advances to incorporate bootstrap tests into a null hypothesis significance testing framework, improving interpretability and unifying paleomagnetic statistical tests.
JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH-SOLID EARTH
(2023)
Article
Geochemistry & Geophysics
Lingyu Zhang, Kristoffer Szilas
Summary: This study presents new petrological and geochemical data for the Narssaq Ultramafic Body (NUB) in the Itsaq Gneiss Complex of SW Greenland. The results indicate that the ultramafic rocks of NUB are not mantle residues, but instead represent crustal cumulates derived from high-Mg magmas.
EARTH AND PLANETARY SCIENCE LETTERS
(2024)
Article
Geochemistry & Geophysics
Rong Xu, Sarah Lambart, Oliver Nebel, Ming Li, Zhongjie Bai, Junbo Zhang, Ganglan Zhang, Jianfeng Gao, Hong Zhong, Yongsheng Liu
Summary: This study investigated the iron isotope compositions of Cenozoic basalts in Southeast China, finding significant variations related to different types of basalts and their respective sources.
EARTH AND PLANETARY SCIENCE LETTERS
(2024)
Article
Geochemistry & Geophysics
C. J. Ebinger, Miriam C. Reiss, Ian Bastow, Mary M. Karanja
Summary: The East African rift system is formed above mantle upwellings and the formation of rifts is related to lithospheric thinning and magmatic activity. The amount of splitting varies spatially and the fast axes are predominantly parallel to the orientation of the rifts. Thick lithospheric modules have less splitting and different orientations, which may indicate mantle plume flow. Splitting rotates and increases in strength as it enters the rift zones, suggesting that the anisotropy is mainly present at shallow depths.
EARTH AND PLANETARY SCIENCE LETTERS
(2024)
Correction
Geochemistry & Geophysics
Ekaterina Rojas-Kolomiets, Owen Jensen, Michael Bizimis, Gene Yogodzinski, Lukas Ackerman
EARTH AND PLANETARY SCIENCE LETTERS
(2024)
Article
Geochemistry & Geophysics
Robert W. Nicklas, Igor S. Puchtel, Ethan F. Baxter
Summary: Oxygen fugacity is a fundamental parameter for understanding redox processes in igneous systems. This study compares the Fe-XANES oxybarometry method with the V-in-olivine method for evaluating fO(2) in MORB lavas. The results show that the V-in-olivine method is not applicable to samples with low MgO content, and that the majority of Archean komatiite sources have lower fO(2) than modern MORB.
EARTH AND PLANETARY SCIENCE LETTERS
(2024)
Article
Geochemistry & Geophysics
Chunfei Chen, Stephen F. Foley, Sebastian Tappe, Huange Ren, Lanping Feng, Yongsheng Liu
Summary: The volatile components CO2 and H2O play a major role in mantle melting and heterogeneity. In this study, Ca isotopes were used to trace the lithological heterogeneity in alkaline magmatic rocks. The results revealed the presence of K-richterite and carbonate components as the source of alkaline magmas with low delta 44/40Ca values. These findings highlight the importance of Ca isotopes as a robust tracer of lithological variation caused by volatiles in the Earth's upper mantle.
EARTH AND PLANETARY SCIENCE LETTERS
(2024)
Article
Geochemistry & Geophysics
Timothee Jautzy, Gilles Rixhon, Regis Braucher, Romain Delunel, Pierre G. Valla, Laurent Schmitt, Aster Team
Summary: Although the current approach to estimate catchment-wide denudation rates using only 10Be concentrations has made significant progress in geomorphology, this study argues for the inclusion of 26Al measurements and testing of steady-state assumptions in slow eroding, formerly glaciated landscapes. The study conducted measurements of both 10Be and 26Al in stream sediments from the Vosges Massif in France and found that elevation, slope, channel steepness, and precipitation were the primary factors controlling denudation rates. The study also revealed a significant relationship between the extent of past glaciation and the cosmogenic (un-)steadiness in the stream sediments.
EARTH AND PLANETARY SCIENCE LETTERS
(2024)
Article
Geochemistry & Geophysics
Erik van der Wiel, Douwe J. J. van Hinsbergen, Cedric Thieulot, Wim Spakman
Summary: Numerical models of Earth's mantle dynamics can predict the vigour and mixing of mantle flow, and the average slab sinking rates are an unexplored parameter that can provide intrinsic information on these characteristics. Through numerical experiments, it has been found that slab sinking rates are strongly correlated with mantle convection and mixing, and may explain geochemical observations from hotspot volcanoes.
EARTH AND PLANETARY SCIENCE LETTERS
(2024)
