Research articles

Seafloor geodetic monitoring suggests the southwestern Kuril trench offshore Hokkaido, Japan, has accumulated substantial slip deficits through shallow plate interface coupling, which could indicate potential for a rare megathrust earthquake

Antarctic sea-ice variability follows a seasonally shifting tripole pattern, which extends beyond the traditional dipole pattern and highlights key forcing from Indian Ocean-Maritime Continent Rossby wave trains, according to observation-based analyses and numerical experiments.

Lunar mare asymmetry could be explained by a higher nearside ilmenite content which would cause increased partial melting and volcanism relative to the farside, according to observations and petrological modelling of high-Ti glass impact beads in Chang’e-5 samples.

Localized light histories control energy-acquisition tactics in marine micro-organisms, according to analyses of isolated microbial strains from sites around the world.

Persistent changes in the Atlantic overturning circulation leave their clearest imprint on the South Atlantic western boundary current system, revealing an overlooked regional sensitivity, according to transient climate simulations spanning the past 22,000 years.

Jet streams are more than strong winds: they are persistent, meandering wind patterns. This perspective reduces the quiet influence of methodological choices on jets’ long-term evolution.

Atmospheric transport models coupled with methane fluxes underestimate methane pollution events in the Alpine region, according to analysis of continuous methane measurements from the Plateau Rosa observatory in the Italian Alps.

The interplay between tectonic transform loading and evolving magma reservoirs in the eastern North Anatolian Fault Zone is potentially responsible for generating volcanic and seismic hazards, according to geophysical analysis and finite-element modelling.

Current national net-zero pledges risk large economic losses in developing regions, and international financial transfers of about 2.7 trillion US dollars per year could effectively offset these impacts, according to a computable general equilibrium model and scenario analysis.

Deep earthquakes in the Pacific slab subducting beneath central Japan are caused by metastable olivine phase transformation and deep dehydration, according to a 3D tomographic model of the slab velocity structure.

An abrupt drop in low-latitude mafic weathering flux amplified the Artinskian Warming Event, potentially constituted the most intense deglaciation interval within the Late Paleozoic Ice Age, according to geochemical analysis of proxies and simulations from the early Permian strata of the Naqing section in South China.

Fire activity in the western U.S. has increased sharply since 2002, linked to higher temperatures and vapor pressure deficits, and contributes to larger nitrogen deposition, based on coupled weather–chemical transport model simulations for the period of 2002-2021.

The primary causes of sapropel formation in the eastern Mediterranean are surface water buoyancy gain during deglaciation and enhanced nutrient supply, which lead to oxygen declines at depth, according to analyses of transient deglacial simulations.

Temporal and spatial complementarities between wind and solar power strongly reduce the frequency, duration, and severity of Europe’s variable renewable energy droughts, according to a 38-year, multi-threshold analysis.

Humid climate in Northern Africa prevailed during interglacial periods over the past 300,000 years and was mainly driven by southward shifts and intensification of mid-latitude westerlies and the Mediterranean storm track, based on speleothem records from Tunisia.

Increased intrinsic time-irreversibility provides a robust early warning for Earth system tipping points, outperforming traditional methods in the presence of nonstationary noise, according to a study based on a nonequilibrium thermodynamics framework.

Atmospheric rivers landfalling on the west coast of the USA are frequently induced by the constructive interference between extratropical cyclone-induced and low-frequency large-scale moisture transports, according to an examination of reanalysis datasets.

Hydropower dams fragment rivers and degrade habitats, increasing extinction risk for freshwater species, with over 85% of species showing status changes moving to higher threat categories, based on Global Dam Tracker and IUCN Red List data from 1996 to 2022.

Observations over a decade at the Sheshan Station in the Yangtze Estuary support pre-landfall erosion, highlighting the necessity to consider such erosion and sediment stratification in predictions of storm-induced coastal alterations, according to analysis of morphodynamic observations and sediment dynamics of Typhoon Fung-wong.

E-bikes show stronger heat adaptation and steadier mobility than walking or cycling, according to a Beijing study of 4,068 travelers observed with panoramic cameras and AI-based behavior recognition during hot weather.