Nature Geoscience contents: March 2015 Volume 8 Number 3 pp161-240

TABLE OF CONTENTS March 2015 Volume 8, Issue 3 Editorial Commentaries News and Views Letters Articles Subscribe Facebook RSS Recommend to library Twitter Advertisement Don't let your data go to waste... Scientific Data helps researchers make the most of their data, offering publication in a peer reviewed open access journal. We welcome data of all sizes, from all areas of science. What's unique? A new type of article providing detailed descriptions of scientifically valuable datasets, maximising data discoverability and reuse. Discover what we can do for your data  EDITORIAL Mine and monitor impacts   p161 doi:10.1038/ngeo2390 Modern societies require more and more metals, not least for renewable energy generation. Scientists from a range of disciplines are needed to prospect for ore deposits and provide a basis for sustainable exploration. COMMENTARIES The quest for sea-floor integrity   pp163 - 164 Till Markus, Katrin Huhn and Kai Bischof doi:10.1038/ngeo2380 The status of sea floors is an important part of healthy marine ecosystems and intact coastlines. We need laws and a sea-floor management regime to make the exploitation of marine resources sustainable. Biomining goes underground   pp165 - 166 D. Barrie Johnson doi:10.1038/ngeo2384 Ore bodies buried deep in Earth's crust could meet increasing global demands for metals, but mining them would be costly and could damage the environment. Reinventing an ancient technology for bioleaching metals could provide a solution. NEWS AND VIEWS Carbon cycle: Fire evolution split by continent   pp167 - 168 Mike Flannigan doi:10.1038/ngeo2360 Boreal forest fires tend to be more intense and lethal in North America than Eurasia. Differences in tree species composition explain these differences in fire regime, and lead to contrasting feedbacks to climate. See also: Article by Rogers et al. Economic geology: Ore metals beneath volcanoes   pp168 - 170 Olivier Nadeau doi:10.1038/ngeo2379 Metals often accumulate in the crust beneath volcanoes. Laboratory experiments and observations reveal important roles for magmatic vapours and brines in transporting and concentrating the metals into deposits worth targeting for extraction. See also: Article by Blundy et al. | Letter by Henley et al. | Letter by Mungall et al. Economic geology: Gold buried by oxygen   pp170 - 171 Fabrice Gaillard and Yoann Copard doi:10.1038/ngeo2347 The Witwatersrand Basin in South Africa contains extraordinary amounts of gold. Thermodynamic calculations suggest that the gold may have accumulated there in response to a perfect storm of conditions available only during the Archaean. See also: Letter by Heinrich Ocean science: Arctic sea ice heated from below   pp172 - 173 Camille Lique doi:10.1038/ngeo2357 Beneath the fresh and cold surface water in the Arctic Ocean resides more saline and warmer water of Atlantic origin. Pan-Arctic measurements of turbulent mixing suggest that tidal mixing is bringing up substantial amounts of heat in some areas. See also: Letter by Rippeth et al. Carbon sequestration: Biology's growing role   p173 Jonathan E. Hickman doi:10.1038/ngeo2386 Palaeoclimate: Aerosols and rainfall   pp174 - 175 Jud Partin doi:10.1038/ngeo2368 Instrumental records have hinted that aerosol emissions may be shifting rainfall over Central America southwards. A 450-year-long precipitation reconstruction indicates that this shift began shortly after the Industrial Revolution. See also: Letter by Ridley et al. Palaeoclimate: A glacial zephyr   pp175 - 176 Aaron E. Putnam doi:10.1038/ngeo2377 The hydrology of the North American west looked very different at the Last Glacial Maximum to today. A model-data comparison suggests the observed precipitation patterns are best explained if the storm track was squeezed and steered by high-pressure systems. See also: Letter by Oster et al. Geoscience JOBS of the week Lab manager in Organic and Isotope Geochemistry University of Colorado Boulder More Science jobs from Geoscience EVENT SGEM 2015 GeoConference on WATER RESOURCES. Forest, Marine And Ocean Ecosystems  16.06.15 Alebena, Bulgaria More science events from LETTERS Water contents of Earth-mass planets around M dwarfs   pp177 - 180 Feng Tian and Shigeru Ida doi:10.1038/ngeo2372 Faint M dwarf stars are the focus of searches for habitable planets. Numerical models suggest that changes in stellar luminosity lead to planets that are either too dry or too wet to be habitable in M dwarf systems. Declining uncertainty in transient climate response as CO2 forcing dominates future climate change   pp181 - 185 Gunnar Myhre, Olivier Boucher, Francois-Marie Breon, Piers Forster and Drew Shindell doi:10.1038/ngeo2371 The relative uncertainty of anthropogenic climate forcing has decreased in the past decade. A statistical model suggests that by 2030 this uncertainty will be halved, as CO2 increasingly dominates over other human-made climate influences. Efficiency of short-lived halogens at influencing climate through depletion of stratospheric ozone   pp186 - 190 R. Hossaini, M. P. Chipperfield, S. A. Montzka, A. Rap, S. Dhomse et al. doi:10.1038/ngeo2363 Short-lived halogens are produced naturally and anthropogenically, and are not governed by the Montreal Protocol. Like halocarbons, short-lived halogens destroy lower-stratospheric ozone, resulting in a net cooling effect since pre-industrial times. Tide-mediated warming of Arctic halocline by Atlantic heat fluxes over rough topography   pp191 - 194 Tom P. Rippeth, Ben J. Lincoln, Yueng-Djern Lenn, J. A. Mattias Green, Arild Sundfjord et al. doi:10.1038/ngeo2350 Atlantic water brings heat to the subsurface Arctic Ocean. Pan-Arctic microstructure measurements of energy dissipation suggest that vertical mixing is substantial over the continental slopes, tidally induced, and insensitive to sea-ice cover. See also: News and Views by Lique Aerosol forcing of the position of the intertropical convergence zone since AD 1550   pp195 - 200 Harriet E. Ridley, Yemane Asmerom, James U. L. Baldini, Sebastian F. M. Breitenbach, Valorie V. Aquino et al. doi:10.1038/ngeo2353 The position of the intertropical convergence zone may be influenced by aerosols. A 450-year-long precipitation record from Belize confirms a southward shift associated with increasing anthropogenic aerosol emissions in the Northern Hemisphere. See also: News and Views by Partin Steering of westerly storms over western North America at the Last Glacial Maximum   pp201 - 205 Jessica L. Oster, Daniel E. Ibarra, Matthew J. Winnick and Katharine Maher doi:10.1038/ngeo2365 The Last Glacial Maximum hydroclimate over western North America differed from the modern climate. A proxy-model comparison suggests that the glacial storm track was squeezed and steered by atmospheric high-pressure systems. See also: News and Views by Putnam Witwatersrand gold deposits formed by volcanic rain, anoxic rivers and Archaean life   pp206 - 209 Christoph A. Heinrich doi:10.1038/ngeo2344 The Witwatersrand gold deposit is the largest in the world. Thermodynamic calculations show that such rich accumulations of gold could be linked to abundant volcanism, primitive life and the oxygen-free atmosphere of the Archaean. See also: News and Views by Gaillard & Copard Porphyry copper deposit formation by sub-volcanic sulphur dioxide flux and chemisorption   pp210 - 215 Richard W. Henley, Penelope L. King, Jeremy L. Wykes, Christian J. Renggli, Frank J. Brink et al. doi:10.1038/ngeo2367 The processes that create economic-grade accumulations of metals above magma chambers are unclear. High-temperature laboratory experiments show that rapid reactions between magmatic gases and Earth's crust can trigger efficient metal deposition. See also: Article by Blundy et al. | Letter by Mungall et al. |News and Views by Nadeau Transport of metals and sulphur in magmas by flotation of sulphide melt on vapour bubbles   pp216 - 219 J. E. Mungall, J. M. Brenan, B. Godel, S. J. Barnes and F. Gaillard doi:10.1038/ngeo2373 Copper ore deposits accumulate at relatively shallow depths in the crust, but it is unclear how the metal is transported. Laboratory experiments show that metals may hitch a ride on magma bubbles and float towards shallower depths. See also: Article by Blundy et al. | Letter by Henley et al. |News and Views by Nadeau High Poisson's ratio of Earth's inner core explained by carbon alloying   pp220 - 223 C. Prescher, L. Dubrovinsky, E. Bykova, I. Kupenko, K. Glazyrin et al. doi:10.1038/ngeo2370 Earth's core exhibits similar elastic properties to rubber. Experiments show that a high-pressure phase of iron carbide modifies iron's elastic properties under inner-core conditions, suggesting that carbon is the light element in the core. Equatorial anisotropy in the inner part of Earth's inner core from autocorrelation of earthquake coda   pp224 - 227 Tao Wang, Xiaodong Song and Han H. Xia doi:10.1038/ngeo2354 The speed of seismic waves passing through the Earth's inner core varies with direction. Analysis of earthquake seismic data suggests that this directional dependence differs between innermost and outer inner core. ARTICLES Top Influence of tree species on continental differences in boreal fires and climate feedbacks   pp228 - 234 Brendan M. Rogers, Amber J. Soja, Michael L. Goulden and James T. Randerson doi:10.1038/ngeo2352 Boreal forest wildfires in North America are more intense and destructive than in Eurasia. Differences in species-level adaptations to fire are primary drivers of these differences in fire regimes. See also: News and Views by Flannigan Generation of porphyry copper deposits by gas-brine reaction in volcanic arcs   pp235 - 240 J. Blundy, J. Mavrogenes, B. Tattitch, S. Sparks and A. Gilmer doi:10.1038/ngeo2351 Most of the world's copper comes from porphyry ore deposits. Laboratory experiments suggest that these deposits form in a two-stage process over thousands of years, from the interaction between sulphur-rich gases and metal-rich brines. See also: Letter by Henley et al. | Letter by Mungall et al. |News and Views by Nadeau Advertisement Natureevents is a fully searchable, multi-disciplinary database designed to maximise exposure for events organisers. The contents of the Natureevents Directory are now live. The digital version is available here. Find the latest scientific conferences, courses, meetings and symposia on natureevents.com. For event advertising opportunities across the Nature Publishing Group portfolio please contact natureevents@nature.com  More Nature Events