Nature Geoscience contents: January 2013 Volume 6 Number 1 pp1-76

TABLE OF CONTENTS January 2013 Volume 6, Issue 1 Editorial Correspondence In the press Features Books and Arts Research Highlights News and Views Correction Letters Articles Corrigendum Subscribe   Facebook   RSS   Recommend to library   Twitter   Advertisement nature.com webcasts Macmillan Science Communication, Exclusive partner of Nature Publishing Group, Publisher of Nature and Scientific American presents a custom webcast on: Using Flow Cytometry in Drinking Water Microbiology Date: Tuesday January 30th 2013 Time: 8a.m. Pacifi c / 11a.m. Eastern 4p.m. GMT/ 5p.m CET Register for Free: www.nature.com/webcasts Sponsored by: BD Biosciences   Editorial Top Five years on   p1 doi:10.1038/ngeo1704 With this issue, we are celebrating the fifth anniversary of the launch of Nature Geoscience — a good time to look at some numbers. Correspondence Top Overestimated water storage   p3 Leonard F. Konikow doi:10.1038/ngeo1659 See also: Letter by Pokhrel et al. Reply to 'Overestimated water storage'   pp3 - 4 Yadu N. Pokhrel, Naota Hanasaki, Pat J.-F. Yeh, Tomohito J. Yamada, Shinjiro Kanae & Taikan Oki doi:10.1038/ngeo1688 Water vapour affects both rain and aerosol optical depth   pp4 - 5 Olivier Boucher and Johannes Quaas doi:10.1038/ngeo1692 Reply to 'Water vapour affects both rain and aerosol optical depth'   p5 Ilan Koren, Orit Altaratz, Lorraine A. Remer, Graham Feingold, J. Vanderlei Martins & Reuven Heiblum doi:10.1038/ngeo1693 In the press Top Washington shake-up   p6 Nicola Jones doi:10.1038/ngeo1689 Features Top Five years of Earth science   p7 doi:10.1038/ngeo1697 Adapting the assessments   pp7 - 8 Thomas F. Stocker doi:10.1038/ngeo1678 The current assessment of climate change is nearing completion. It is now time to consider how best to provide increasingly complex climate information to policymakers, suggests Thomas F. Stocker. The epoch of humans   pp8 - 9 Jan Zalasiewicz doi:10.1038/ngeo1674 People have changed the world irrevocably. Jan Zalasiewicz discusses whether formalization of the Anthropocene as an epoch in geological time will help us understand our place in Earth history. The mystery of atmospheric oxygen   pp9 - 10 James Kasting doi:10.1038/ngeo1684 Readily available O2 is vital to life as we know it. James Kasting looks at how and when the first whiffs of oxygen began to reach the Earth's atmosphere. The great sea-ice dwindle   pp10 - 11 Marika Holland doi:10.1038/ngeo1681 Record minima in Arctic summer sea ice have been trumping each other. Marika Holland reflects on the likely fate of the northern sea ice cap. Megathrust surprises   pp11 - 12 Kelin Wang doi:10.1038/ngeo1682 Numerous earthquakes have occurred at subduction zones in the past 5 years, and some were devastating. Kelin Wang describes what we have learned about the seismicity of the shallow zone. A steep learning curve   pp12 - 13 Ulf Riebesell doi:10.1038/ngeo1690 Ocean acidification, caused by the uptake of anthropogenic carbon dioxide, is a significant stressor to marine life. Ulf Riebesell charts the rapid rise in ocean acidification research, from the discovery of its adverse effects to its entry into the political consciousness. Freshwater in flux   pp13 - 14 Jonathan Cole doi:10.1038/ngeo1696 A surprising fraction of Earth's element cycling takes place in inland waters. Jonathan Cole suggests that interactions between these water bodies and the terrestrial biosphere are more extensive and interesting than previously thought. A crowded Solar System   pp14 - 15 Barbara Cohen doi:10.1038/ngeo1694 The last five years have seen a boom in exploration of the Solar System. Barbara Cohen explains that the biggest gains have been right here on Earth. A sensitivity to history   pp15 - 16 Matthew Huber doi:10.1038/ngeo1695 Questions about the sensitivity of Earth's climate to greenhouse gas forcing challenge our understanding of climate change. Matthew Huber looks at what we can learn from past greenhouse periods. Books and Arts Top Water and life   p17 Frédéric Frappart reviews Water: All That Matters by Paul Younger doi:10.1038/ngeo1672 Research Highlights Top Planetary science: Landscapes on Titan | Deep earth: Core light elements | Biogeochemistry: Toxic sediments | Tectonics: Accretionary surge News and Views Top Tectonics: Rupture exposed   pp19 - 20 Thomas K. Rockwell doi:10.1038/ngeo1673 Great Himalayan earthquakes were thought to rarely rupture the surface. Field analyses in Nepal, however, reveal large surface displacements along the main fault bounding India and Asia during at least two historical earthquakes, in 1255 and 1934. See also: Article by Sapkota et al. Planetary science: Rising sulphur on Venus   pp20 - 21 Larry W. Esposito doi:10.1038/ngeo1675 Thirty years ago, the spacecraft Pioneer Venus observed the peak and decline of sulphur dioxide levels above Venus's clouds. Similar observations by Venus Express reveal a surprisingly variable venusian atmosphere. See also: Letter by Marcq et al. Climate science: Canadian climate aberration   pp21 - 22 Gordon Bonan doi:10.1038/ngeo1691 Large-scale ecological disturbances are expected to alter climate by disrupting ecosystem function, but the climatic perturbation can be hard to detect. An analysis of forests in British Columbia reveals a warmer, drier summer following pine-beetle tree kill. See also: Article by Maness et al. Climate science: Tropical Atlantic warm events   pp22 - 23 Joke F. Lübbecke doi:10.1038/ngeo1685 Sea surface temperatures in the eastern equatorial Atlantic Ocean are subject to year-to-year variations. Reanalysis data and model simulations suggest that advection of warm water from north of the Equator can drive some of the warm events. See also: Letter by Richter et al. Geoscience JOBS of the week Tenure-Track Faculty Position - Vogel Endowed Professor of Solid Earth Geoscience Michigan State University Professor of Deep Geothermal Energy and Geological Reservoirs ETH Zurich Postdoctoral Fellowships The Geophysical Laboratory More Science jobs from Geoscience EVENT 13th International Multidisciplinary Scientific GeoConference & EXPO SGEM2013 16.-22.06.13 Albena, Bulgaria More science events from Correction Top Hydroelectric carbon sequestration   p5 doi:10.1038/ngeo1705 See also: Correspondence by Mendonca et al. Letters Top Variations of sulphur dioxide at the cloud top of Venus's dynamic atmosphere   pp25 - 28 Emmanuel Marcq, Jean-Loup Bertaux, Franck Montmessin & Denis Belyaev doi:10.1038/ngeo1650 A pulse of sulphur dioxide in Venus's upper atmosphere was observed by the Pioneer Venus spacecraft in the 1970s and 1980s and attributed to volcanism. Recent sulphur dioxide measurements from Venus Express indicate decadal-scale fluctuations in sulphur dioxide above Venus's cloud tops in an atmosphere that is more dynamic than expected. See also: News and Views by Esposito Reduction of electron density in the night-time lower ionosphere in response to a thunderstorm   pp29 - 33 Xuan-Min Shao, Erin H. Lay & Abram R. Jacobson doi:10.1038/ngeo1668 Tropospheric thunderstorms have been reported to disturb the lower ionosphere, at altitudes of 65–90 km. The use of lightning signals from a distant mesoscale storm to probe the lower ionosphere above a small tropospheric thunderstorm reveals a reduction in ionospheric electron density in response to lightning discharges in the small storm. The impact of polar mesoscale storms on northeast Atlantic Ocean circulation   pp34 - 37 Alan Condron & Ian A. Renfrew doi:10.1038/ngeo1661 Every year, thousands of mesoscale storms (termed polar lows) cross the climatically sensitive subpolar North Atlantic Ocean. High-resolution numerical simulations of the ocean circulation, taking into account the effect of these storms on deep-water formation, suggest that polar lows significantly affect the global ocean circulation. Increased water storage in North America and Scandinavia from GRACE gravity data   pp38 - 42 Hansheng Wang, Lulu Jia, Holger Steffen, Patrick Wu, Liming Jiang, Houtse Hsu, Longwei Xiang, Zhiyong Wang & Bo Hu doi:10.1038/ngeo1652 Changes in continental water storage have been difficult to constrain from space-borne gravity data in regions experiencing both ice melting and glacial isostatic adjustment. Separation of the hydrologic and isostatic signals reveals increases in water storage in both North America and Scandinavia over the past decade. Multiple causes of interannual sea surface temperature variability in the equatorial Atlantic Ocean   pp43 - 47 Ingo Richter, Swadhin K. Behera, Yukio Masumoto, Bunmei Taguchi, Hideharu Sasaki & Toshio Yamagata doi:10.1038/ngeo1660 The tropical Atlantic Ocean shows sea surface temperature variability on interannual timescales. Observational and model data suggest that some of this variability can be attributed to the advection of anomalously warm northern subtropical waters toward the Equator. See also: News and Views by Lübbecke Routes to energy dissipation for geostrophic flows in the Southern Ocean   pp48 - 51 Maxim Nikurashin, Geoffrey K. Vallis & Alistair Adcroft doi:10.1038/ngeo1657 Wind power inputs at the surface ocean are dissipated through smaller-scale processes in the ocean interior and turbulent boundary layer. Simulations suggest that seafloor topography enhances turbulent mixing and energy dissipation in the ocean interior. Two pulses of extinction during the Permian-Triassic crisis   pp52 - 56 Haijun Song, Paul B. Wignall, Jinnan Tong & Hongfu Yin doi:10.1038/ngeo1649 Over 90% of marine species were lost during the end-Permian extinction. Fossil data show that the crisis in China was marked by two distinct phases of marine extinction separated by a 180,000-year recovery period. Climatic and biotic upheavals following the end-Permian mass extinction   pp57 - 60 Carlo Romano, Nicolas Goudemand, Torsten W. Vennemann, David Ware, Elke Schneebeli-Hermann, Peter A. Hochuli, Thomas Bruhwiler, Winand Brinkmann & Hugo Bucher doi:10.1038/ngeo1667 The recovery from the end-Permian mass extinction was slow and prolonged. A temperature reconstruction shows that further biotic crises during the recovery were associated with extreme warmth. Neoarchaean seawater sulphate concentrations from sulphur isotopes in massive sulphide ore   pp61 - 64 J. W. Jamieson, B. A. Wing, J. Farquhar & M. D. Hannington doi:10.1038/ngeo1647 Sulphate concentrations in the ocean prior to 2.4 Gyr ago were lower than today. The sulphur isotope systematics of 2.7-Gyr-old sulphide deposits suggests that these low concentrations were maintained by a balance between hydrothermal sources and microbial sulphate reduction. Articles Top Summertime climate response to mountain pine beetle disturbance in British Columbia   pp65 - 70 H. Maness, P. J. Kushner & I. Fung doi:10.1038/ngeo1642 The current mountain pine beetle infestation in forests in British Columbia ranks among the largest ecological disturbances recorded to date. An analysis of remote sensing data suggests that the resultant forest loss has led to a 1 °C rise in summertime surface temperatures. See also: News and Views by Bonan Primary surface ruptures of the great Himalayan earthquakes in 1934 and 1255   pp71 - 76 S. N. Sapkota, L. Bollinger, Y. Klinger, P. Tapponnier, Y. Gaudemer & D. Tiwari doi:10.1038/ngeo1669 The recurrence times of great Himalayan earthquakes are difficult to assess because they rarely rupture the surface. Field mapping and 14C dating of offset fluvial deposits are used to identify two great Himalayan quakes that ruptured the surface along the main plate boundary fault in ad 1255 and 1934. See also: News and Views by Rockwell Corrigendum Top Limited latitudinal mantle plume motion for the Louisville hotspot   p76 Anthony A. P. Koppers, Toshitsugu Yamazaki, Jörg Geldmacher, Jeffrey S. Gee, Nicola Pressling, Hiroyuki Hoshi, L. Anderson, C. Beier, D. M. Buchs, L-H. Chen, B. E. Cohen, F. Deschamps, M. J. Dorais, D. Ebuna, S. Ehmann, J. G. Fitton, P. M. Fulton, E. Ganbat, C. Hamelin, T. Hanyu, L. Kalnins, J. Kell, S. Machida, J. J. Mahoney, K. Moriya, A. R. L. Nichols, S. Rausch, S-i. Sano, J. B. Sylvan & R. Williams doi:10.1038/ngeo1677 See also: Article by Koppers et al. Top Advertisement Nature Geoscience: call for papers The Nature Geoscience Editorial team is now accepting manuscripts from researchers who are active at the frontiers of this diverse and multidisciplinary field. Articles for Nature Geoscience will be selected and edited to have the maximum appeal to the global geosciences community. Manuscripts should be submitted through the online submission system The complete Guide for Authors can be viewed online   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

You have been sent this Table of Contents Alert because you have opted in to receive it. You can change or discontinue your e-mail alerts at any time, by modifying your preferences on your nature.com account at: www.nature.com/myaccount (You will need to log in to be recognised as a nature.com registrant) For further technical assistance, please contact our registration department For print subscription enquiries, please contact our subscription department For other enquiries, please contact our customer feedback department Nature Publishing Group | 75 Varick Street, 9th Floor | New York | NY 10013-1917 | USA Nature Publishing Group's worldwide offices: London - Paris - Munich - New Delhi - Tokyo - Melbourne San Diego - San Francisco - Washington - New York - Boston Macmillan Publishers Limited is a company incorporated in England and Wales under company number 785998 and whose registered office is located at Brunel Road, Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS. © 2013 Nature Publishing Group, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited. All Rights Reserved.